


The Boy of Time

by JBD302020



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Hurt Number Five | The Boy, Hurt/Comfort, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Whump, Number Five | The Boy-centric, Suicidal Thoughts, Temporary Character Death, Tired Number Five | The Boy, tagging to be safe
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:40:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 52,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27595627
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JBD302020/pseuds/JBD302020
Summary: There’s something about Five that his siblings don’t understand, and if they don’t realize it soon, they will be too late to save their brother. Because as the Handler had said, even Five has a limit.And every day he gets dangerously closer to it.also - That one Five and Lila fic. ^_^ (No, the other one.)
Relationships: Diego Hargreeves/Eudora Patch, Number Five | The Boy & Diego Hargreeves, Number Five | The Boy & Lila Pitts, Number Five | The Boy & The Hargreeves (Umbrella Academy)
Comments: 359
Kudos: 582





	1. A Mistake

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first story I have ever written, and I hate this chapter lol but I want to learn how to write after reading so many fantastic fanfics. ^_^ I started writing the first chapter with no plot in mind, and I've drafted the 2nd chapter and it went a different direction lol, but I did go back and tweak some details to match up with the overall plot now in my head. 
> 
> Hope this fic will find some people to interest. ^_^

Six figures shuffled on the second floor bannister to formation, poised, appearing ready to spring to a fight. The light from the large window behind silhouetted them, the effect projecting an imposing air.

The devastation of a once loving brother staring back with the eyes of a stranger, heartbreakingly filled with contempt, settled down on the siblings in varying combinations of distress and turmoil.

In the midst of this distress, Five's mind began to forcefully process the situation with as much speed and clarity as his focus could muster, embracing the adrenaline that had kicked in, and strenuously pushing the incredible weight of his weariness aside. His siblings, he knew, could not perceive and comprehend situational data as quickly as he could, especially not in the state that they were in. He had to get his bearings so he could be prepared, for all their sakes.

In his swirl of thoughts, Five urgently filtered out the how's and why's of the current predicament, focusing only what could affect them at that very moment: whether the new students were friends or foes, or where their father stood with regards to his children from a previous timeline.

"You can't be here," said their father matter-of-factly, and Five received his answer. What level from apathy to malice his father's words entailed, he couldn't decipher at that time, but Five knew at least that they weren't welcomed and should not stay much longer. Best case scenario, they would be asked to leave kindly with vague explanations - as their father was never very forthcoming with explanations after all - worse case scenario, well, he didn't want a worse case scenario at the moment, because the unfortunate fact was that Five still couldn't execute a spatial jump.

Reversing time had drained Five immensely. When he had taken Diego with him in a spatial jump while running down a field of snow, his powers were able to recover after a little while. But ever since the time reversal, even short distance teleports couldn't be accomplished.

It didn't worry him much then, he just thought that he had overexerted himself with a new (and notedly incredibly useful) ability that required so much of his energy resources. And besides, he had thought, they were going to use the briefcase to return home. If they would have jumped into an apocalyptic wasteland, he would have triggered the briefcase instantly to return back to 1963 where they came from. He wouldn't have needed his powers yet.

He didn't account for the possibility that they would be met by what appeared to be highly-trained super-powered beings that potentially viewed them as intruders to their home. That, he distressingly admitted, came out of left field.

A restless, silent hostility permeated the air, and Five knew it was critical that this situation would not delve into a fight with his current condition. Well then, he decided, pros and cons had been weighed.

"We apologize for the intrusion," Five began, turning his head towards their father. The entire room shifted their gaze at the young teenager that spoke.

In practiced ease, Five slipped into the familiar composure he had used frequently while engaging with the Handler in their power plays, both players grasping to take charge of a situation.

"As you can understand, we did not realize that the timeline had changed and assumed incorrectly that this was our home." Various levels of realization came over each of the siblings, as Five saw out of the corner of his eyes the movement of sudden shifting stances around him. A pang of protectiveness hit Five, and he wanted so much to pull his siblings closer to him. This was physically impossible at the moment of course, but with his spoken words and confident demeanor, he attempted to envelope them in protection as best he could

"We will be taking our leave now," Five continued, making quick eye contact with each one of his siblings as he spoke, and with a slight movement of his head, motioned them to head towards the door.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot allow you to disturb the timeline as you please," Reginald spoke, just as controlled as Five's voice had been. The occupants of the room watched the standoff with nervous anticipation, gawking as if watching two lions encircling each other. It was quite possible that Five and Reginald's auras were doing just that, if invisible emanations were observable.

It appeared that walking out easily was not going to be possible for the siblings. Five glanced at the table where he had set the briefcase down upon their arrival. He wouldn't have time to reset their destination, which would bring them back from where they came from.

But that scenario was not acceptable to Five. They were fugitives in that timeline, and more importantly their presence there could still trigger a doomsday. An apocalypse was a scenario that he was not willing to compromise with. At least in this timeline, he thought, all his siblings were alive.

There was a relief there that wanted to wash over Five at that thought. _Not now_ , he chided himself. _Later when everyone is safe_.

The siblings would need to make a run for it, but a distraction would be necessary . Five's mind suggested an absurd image of him chucking a grenade, and of his family dashing out in the commotion, which made him look to his right over at Vanya.

"Dad," Luther interjected, confusion in his voice. "What's going on. What do you mean by the Sparrow Academy?"

Five took the opportunity to grab Vanya's arm towards him as Luther had thankfully stolen the room's attention

"Vanya, we need to run," Five whispered for only Vanya to hear. Vanya looked momentarily startled, but appeared to force herself to focus on Five as she turned to meet his eyes. "Can you push out a distraction." It wasn't a question, it was a firm request, and Vanya nodded in understanding. "On my mark," Five whispered again, his eyes searching for Vanya's comprehension.

Vanya stared back into her brother's eyes as her heart began to race at the anticipation. Some part of the house began to shake lightly, Vanya already struggling to keep her power in check with the sudden rush of nervousness. She closed her eyes for a short while to calm herself. She looked up and took a glance again at Five looking for reassurance, but by that time her brother was already heading to the next sibling. She knew Five was relying on her, and she wanted to fulfill that confidence.

Vanya looked up at Ben and the strangers behind him. She would push a blast in that direction, just enough to knock them off their feet so she and her family could make a run for it during the confusion. She took a deep breath and began preparing her power as discreetly as she could.

"I adopted seven children gifted with abilities far greater than any normal human could have," Reginald began his explanation. Five still attempted to absorb the information coming from their father, but his focus was on preparing their escape plan. Five headed behind him towards Diego. He knew that Diego would be the one who could survey his surroundings the fastest and adjust to the situation as it came. And equally important, he would be physically strong enough to protect Vanya, since Five couldn't communicate with Luther at the moment.

"Diego, Vanya will cause a distraction, we need to run out that door. Make sure to grab her when we do." Five kept the instruction as simple as possible. "Stand in front of her until it's time," Diego nodded in understanding. The vigilante was usually slow on theoretical uptakes, but when it came to immediate action, he was the most reliable. Diego discretely walked forward to position himself to stand right in front of Vanya, allowing for Vanya's small frame to be hidden behind his, even with the leveraged view of the Sparrow Academy. He could see her powers already starting to glow white, and they couldn't risk alerting the others in the room until she was ready.

"They are serving, and will serve, a greater purpose for this world," Reginald continued in the answer to Luther's question.

Five noted that Klaus looked to be in shock, more profoundly affected by the situation involving Ben, but he could not let empathy distract himself. _Not now_ , he chided himself again. Allison was also quick in battle scenarios, so Five thought that she would be the best choice between the two anyway. Five would grab Klaus, Diego would take care of Vanya, and Allison can take care of grabbing Luther. All siblings would be accounted for.

"It was clear to me that you and your siblings were not able to fulfill the purpose you were born for, so I had to make necessary adjustments." Luther's mouth was dry, and he couldn't get the words out to respond. A similar gut-wrenching rejection during his first meeting with their father in the 60's.

"Though I did not have much of a choice in the matter. For what it's worth, I am sorry," Reginald said with a look of... was that sincerity? Five was momentarily taken aback. He took a mental note of the words and their father's facial expression. He'll have to process that information later.

He was already at Allison's side.

Five repeated the plan to Allison, instructing her to grab Luther.

"The mission is too important," their father continued, a surprising tone of sadness in his voice. Then quickly looking up, he bellowed out a command that started the chaos. "Capture them by any means necessary, but do not kill."

_Shit_ , Five thought in panic.

"Vanya!" Five yelled out towards his sister as soon as the words came out of their father's mouth. In an instant the figures on top began to move, but though Five was curious what powers their counterparts had, he didn't want to find out at that moment. Diego quickly stepped aside and revealed the glowing Vanya, giving her power a clear path towards their enemies. As if a trigger had been pulled, a tsunami of soundwaves suddenly emanated out of her body, ripping through the air and pouncing on the intended targets with an explosive roar.

A hail of broken glass, splintered wood, and chaotic dust covered the area instantly. Luther and Klaus momentarily couldn't make out what was happening, but a forceful pull of each of their arms got their feet moving - Diego, Allison, and Five were quick to grab their assigned sibling and get their feet running toward the door. Five made sure also to grab the briefcase, which kept him a step behind the others, but gave him a good view of the positions of all his siblings, which he actually preferred.

They were making good time towards their escape, but Five could feel it was still taking too long. He knew their battle-trained counterparts would recover by then. He braced himself for any type of attack that could catch up to them, gripping the briefcase tighter in his hand.

"Vanya, door!" Vanya still had her power within reach, and at Five's words she pushed her power forward to create an opening for them, smashing the door off it's hinge as if it was a flimsy cardboard in the midst of a tornado.

Five kept his senses in awareness of all his siblings, so he had picked up when a different set of feet ran behind them. He momentarily thought of instructing Vanya to turn around and attack. But the sound of a pained yelp from Vanya stopped the siblings in their tracks. Vanya's stumbled, clutching her shoulder in pain, her power immediately leaving her body.

Diego swiftly picked up Vanya in his arms, barely missing a step. "Keep going!" Diego yelled out at everyone. The others continued to run, but Five looked behind him momentarily, wanting to know which one he needed to kill later. From several feet back, he saw one of the Sparrows on his knees where he had plunged a knife in his shoulder, the same shoulder that Vanya was hurt. The man had a manic smile in his eyes.

Instinctually, Five flashed an insane smile of his own, baring his teeth and boring a set of rabid eyes through the man.

But in the next moment, something behind the man caught Five's attention - it appeared to be a flock of black birds heading towards them.

"Five!" Allison called out with a force equal to that of a rumor, snapping Five back in the moment, his legs quickly moving at the firmness of Allison's voice.

They had run out in the streets, ducking in an alleyway. They could hear the strange flock of black birds flying close by, and the siblings had stood still in the dark corner of the alleyway until the sounds of flapping wings grew farther away. After a short time, the siblings cautiously veered out into the streets to look for shelter, Diego still holding Vanya in his arms. The other siblings alternately checked on her, each time being reassured by Vanya that the cut was not deep. Though she could not convince Diego to let her down yet. "If we're attacked, you'll be too slow to run," Diego had countered.

"Here, let me carry her," Luther offered helpfully.

"I can handle it, she's tiny," Diego retorted a little too forcefully. Allison put a hand on Luther and issued a stern look of "Let it go", not wanting to get into it until they've found a safe place. Luther though had looked more perplexed than combative.

Allison also begrudgingly realized she would have to rumor them to survival that night. She acquired some food and first aid at the nearest drug store. They settled for a motel a few blocks from the Academy, where Allison also rumored for them a 2 queen bedroom suite.

*************

Diego finished tending to Vanya's wound. It was shallow, as Vanya had tried to assure everyone several times. But Diego and Allison made sure to disinfect and bandage it well. Five hovered over the two as they worked on Vanya's wound, until he was satisfied himself that it wasn't serious.

Five slouched down on a couch and started to take mental notes on the things he had just learned, particularly his father's words and the two powers from their counterparts that had manifested. But the processing of information made his headache worse. His body had returned to its previous tiredness before the adrenaline kicked in at the Academy. He could still feel sufficiently drained of his powers, not even bothering to try pulling again to test. Maybe he just needed sleep, he thought, and some food. He wished that Allison had grabbed coffee as well, or something sugary he could use for energy.

His siblings had gathered sitting on the floor around the very small table in the middle of the living room, right in front of Five. The food selection consisted of chips, hummus, beef jerky, dried fruit, yogurt, nut bars, and water bottles. Yogurt seemed the best option for sugar, being that it's the fruit flavored kind. Five looked at the yogurt on the table, but tiredness had him staring half-dazed instead. Just a few minutes on this couch, he thought, then he would get up to grab it. Hopefully his siblings didn't eat all of it.

It was bothering Five now, how his powers had not returned.

But it was entirely too tiring for Five to worry, so instead he switched his attention to his siblings. Squeezed tightly shoulder to shoulder, they fought over the apparently delicious chips and hummus, squabbled about the amount of space each one was taking up, about the smell that was coming from each other, and who had dibs on showering first. Five soon found himself grinning a little at the silliness, that even with the situation they were in, his siblings still managed to have little arguments about childish things.

And it was wonderful for Five to see them full of life. He let the relief come over him now that they were momentarily safe. Two apocalypse averted. Sure they still had things to worry about, but at least his siblings still have their future. And as far as he knew, no apocalypse was set to happen.

"Five, you should have let us all in on the plan back at the Academy," Luther said with a slightly angry voice while taking a bite of a beef jerky, probably annoyance at something some other sibling said, but unfortunately redirected at Five. It shook Five out of his stupor, but he was too tired to conjure a biting remark.

"Not now Luther, everyone eat and rest first," Allison said with a glare. "Five, come and eat something."

"Could we go back to 1963," Vanya asked hopefully, partly in an attempt to change the subject. She had left behind a family there.

"Aren't we fugitives though? That would be a problem," Klaus chimed in, half distracted and mouth full of granola.

"And maybe we could have thought of a better plan than Vanya versus everyone," Luther again said to Five, still not letting it go. Why was Luther so angry, Five thought, trying now to discern his brother's current headset. "That's why they targeted her."

That detail snapped Five's eyes to attention. Because it was true. Vanya was targeted because he had her fight. Only her. Why did he do that? He did run the numbers, though admittedly hastily. He couldn't do it himself without his powers. His only goal was a distraction at first, he didn't plan too far ahead of that, so he relied on Vanya again when things got tight. Vanya was the easiest way to do a smash-and-grab run for it, the best way to keep everyone safe. Except it made Vanya the lightning rod for an attack.

His heart started to beat fast, Luther was right, Five made a mistake. A mistake that could have been much worse if things played out a bit differently.

"I know you meant well, Five," Diego started. "But that wasn't a good idea, you know that right? She may be powerful, but she doesn't have the experience we do." Diego's voice lacked the accusatory tone of Luther's, but that made it bite harder. Because it was just plain truth.

Yes it was true, and that was exactly why Five preferred to do the fighting by himself because he risked his siblings otherwise.

"No, I'm fine," Vanya attempted to helpfully add. "Everything turned out okay." She was looking at Five with concern in her eyes. Why was Vanya concerned about _him_ , when she's the one that got injured? Five was growing angry, mostly at himself, but he was going to propel that anger out to whoever was unlucky enough to be in close proximity.

"Well Luther, since you were too busy being a daddy's boy instead of coming up with a fucking plan, someone had to do something useful," Five roared back, anger giving him the energy he needed to put up fighting words. "Or were you just mad that I took the lead in front of dad, _Number One_." His words weren't meant to convey truth, just meant to hurt.

Luther stood up, then faltered momentarily in his purpose, then firmed in his resolve, taking a threatening step towards Five. Five braced himself, but Diego stood up and put a strong hand on Luther's chest to stop him.

"Hey, he's right though, none of us came up with a plan," Diego said as forcefully as he could.

A shove, a shove back, and a moment later, Diego and Luther were tripping over the table and the three other siblings sitting on the ground as a half-hearted brawl ensued among the sounds of gasps, yelps, and complaints in the small room, which would have most likely turned into a full brawl if not for the extremely limited space. Five got up on his feet to move away from the commotion.

"Stop this NOW!" Allison's voiced bellowed in fierce command.

"You stupid morons, do you want the police called on us?!" Five said.

"Hey, I was defending you, little prick!" Diego said, shifting his position to place an angry finger towards Five.

"You were supposed to protect Vanya!" Five shouted at Diego. That was incoherent for this conversation, he though distractedly, but he was losing control, trying to forcibly push the guilt out of his body with words.

"Five, this IS your fault, so stop making it worse!" Allison yelled out in frustration, and regretted her words and tone as it left her mouth. "I mean, this fight, not that..." Allison said softly, trying to take back her words as helplessly as trying to take back a rumor.

But the guilt had already seized Five, finally catching him in its forceful grip. _My fault, yes_. Five thoughts seethed as he took a glance towards Vanya, locking momentarily with Vanya's concerned eyes. Her head shook at her brother, much the same way she had shaken her head pleadingly at him when they were 13 right before he ran out of the Academy into the Apocalypse. What did she mean by that right now? _No_ , as in _stop making things worse_? Or _no_ , _it's not your fault I got hurt?_ Either way, Five did not like that concern directed at him.

Feeling the tide turn against Five, and without Diego physically impeding him anymore, Luther took steps toward Five, picking him up off the ground by the collars of his blazer and shoving his small body against the wall.

"Whoa, whoa...!" Klaus said, as Vanya yelled for Luther to stop, both of them getting up to join the rest of their siblings..

The shove to the wall hurt his chest and his back, but because he had cuts and bruises that became aggravated, not because Luther was trying to hurt him. Five knew Luther was holding back.

"Five, I'm trying, we're all trying our best with what we have. But first and foremost, we have to protect each other!" Luther shouted.

But that's what he had been trying to do, Five thought. Entrapped, Five gave Luther the fiercest look he could muster since he could not do much of anything else.

"Put him down, Luther!" Allison yelled out in exasperation. Vanya came up beside Luther, pleading with him to loosen his hold on Five. Voices of protest and exasperation filled the room.

"Why are you all of a sudden so protective of our dear sister anyway, you of all people," Five laced his words with as much venom as he could. Luther's face momentarily fell.

"No Five," Vanya cut in. "He apologized for that already." Five knew it was an asshole thing for him to say.

And Five felt anger, at himself for this mess up, at his siblings for constantly dying on him, at his father for doing something idiotic, at the Temps Commission, at the Apocalypse. The anger sent a surge of energy through him, and his eyes snapped away from Luther at this realization. In an instant, Luther was grabbing empty air amidst the fading blue of Five's power.

Five had jumped.


	2. Fumbling Emotions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all the comments and kudos and all that, it makes this so enjoyable! It still blows my mind that there are people who took to this fic. 
> 
> Here's chapter 2! *bites lip nervously*

Five's impromptu warp spat him out on a quiet street about a block from the motel, and he held his hand out to the asphalt to stop himself from face planting as he came down on both knees. He felt faint, even worse than before, and he hoped that he would not indeed pass out at the moment.

He hadn't had the energy to jump, but apparently he was clever enough to trick his body into thinking otherwise. He grinned a small triumph over himself. His body in turn laughed at him over his current helpless predicament.

He breathed in a rhythm, relishing slightly at the cool night air soothing his lungs, sending the comfort through him. He waited for his body to regain strength to get out of the street, as he slightly worried that a car might run him over.

Okay, he admitted, an Anger Jump in hindsight was probably not the smartest thing to do.

He hadn't noticed the figure moving towards him until it had settled in front. But since his self-preservation instinct was currently spacing out, the adrenaline refused to give him the energy he needed to enter a fight-or-flight mode.

"Five get up," a woman's voice, non-threatening, he noted with relief, whispered in the quietness of the street. He attempted to focus his eyes until he could make out the face of the person speaking, slightly tugging at his memory with effort to connect the familiarity of the voice.

_Wait, is that Lila?_ , Five thought to himself, dots connecting in his head.

"It isn't safe here, they'll see you, " Lila continued, eyes looking around nervously before looking down at Five. "Ah hell, I'm not going to carry you," huffing out air in annoyance as she realized he hadn't moved. "Here." She offered her hand.

Five reached up to grab it without much thought, as thoughts were not at the moment coalescing in a discernable manner for him to do much with them. As he nearly pulled Lila down trying to lift himself up with his own strength, she readjusted and put her arm around him to support. 

Why was Lila here? Five couldn't think properly, and decided he would solve that puzzle later after he finished the much more critical objective of putting one foot in front of the other, though he did scribble a mental note that her hair appeared a few inches longer than it did earlier today when they were trying to kill each other.

Lila guided them as quickly as she could to the side of a building, and Five was thankful that she seemed patient with his slow moving body. She set Five against the wall, supporting him slightly as he slid down to a sitting position, knees up, arms resting on top of them. He placed the back of his head against the wall and closed his eyes, still trying to gather some strength. Just a little rest, he thought, then he could keep going.

_Going where?_ he asked himself. Where was he going again?

"Are you hurt? From the tussle with the Sparrow brats earlier." She asked matter-of-factly, voice still slightly rigid. Five shook his head, too tired to reply with words, but he did open his eyes to look at her.

Lila was subconsciously playing her fingers at the blades of grass beneath them, body language clear that she wanted to ask another question but couldn't decide how to.

"Diego's fine," he said quietly, shifting his gaze to look at the street in front of them. The street lamps buzzed quietly, lighting the street with a pleasant orange-yellow glow. A tranquil breeze brushed lightly on his skin, and he felt his body easing comfortably.

Is it okay to rest a bit? His anxiety's reply was actually _no, keep running, keep going,_ but since it was garbled and indiscernible at the moment, Five just supposed it said yes.

"So what happened to you then? Get hit by a truck?" Her tone more laid back than earlier, positioning herself comfortably beside him.

"No, just tired," he said simply. His mind recalled Lila's words earlier, about it not being safe, and thought maybe that would be important information to process soon.

"You looked okay earlier when you were with your family."

"You were watching us," Five said, his mind collecting more data to process later. "I just used up too much of my power."

"Yeah, I noticed it takes up a lot of energy. Your power's not very efficient. Some cardio would help, little man" Five took note of her easygoing, almost teasing demeanor. A few images of their fight earlier in the barn flashed through his memory. _Strange_ , was the only response his mind came up with.

"I'm used to my powers, I have pretty good endurance."

"Then what do you call that?" Lila motioned towards his clearly exhausted body.

"It's gotten worse with a 13-year-old body," Five shrugged, actually a little pleased to find that he felt strong enough to want to defend himself. "Also, I used a new energy-sucking ability, which yeah, I'll only be using for emergencies." Five felt as if his headache was easing also, feeling his neck relaxing comfortably.

Lila gasped, a little too excitedly, her body energizing.

"Oooh, show me, show me, please?" Five turned his head to give her a questioning glare, communicating _Crazy Lady_ as well as he could with just a (tired) look. Lila's eager eyes stared back unaffected. But Five did find himself thinking about the request.

"I don't think I can. I truly don't think it's possible to show you." How could you show someone while their time is being reversed? Could he bring her with him while he's reversing time, he wondered. Realizing the stupidity of contemplating willingly giving his power to Lila, Five shook his head to knock some sense into his muddy thoughts. This process finally brought him to slight alertness, and thought it would be better to change the subject.

"I can help you with Diego. I mean, I could help in arranging for you to meet and talk." That was probably the only thing that would interest her more than new powers. And it's probably what she was truly after, even if she couldn't bring herself to say it.

Lila's face showed a slight surprise, before settling on a more satisfied look. "Thanks," she said sincerely. Then with a more suspicious expression said, "You're being weirdly nice."

Was he? Five wondered, furrowing his brows and squinting his eyes, but his contemplation was interrupted when he noticed Lila suddenly appearing to be hyper-aware.

"What's going on?" Five asked, weariness still clinging on his voice, moving his eyes around also to see what Lila was looking at. Concerningly, his senses were failing him due to his exhaustion.

"I thought.." Lila started, still looking around. "I don't want to be out in the open." Lila turned to look at Five, expression slightly nervous. "You should go back to your family." Lila stood up, taking a step to leave, then looked down at Five still sitting on the ground. "Can you still not stand?" Lila said, slight irritation in her voice.

One thought too many crowded Five's mind, and he plucked out one that he thought was more important than the rest. "Is it the Sparrow Academy?" Five asked. Surprisingly, Lila shot him a confused look

"What? No, I'm not scared of those entitled punks," she said, almost looking like she was reacting to an insult." Her eyes trained around her surroundings again, her expression turning serious. "The Commission, they're hunting me. And I don't know if they know you're here, but either way they're rather obsessed with you, so best you be careful too."

"No, Herb is in charge now, and we wiped out all the field agents, remember?" Five said, placing a hand against the back wall to to assist in getting himself to a standing position.

"No, the higher ups are directly calling the shots now that the Commission board has been eliminated. And the new agents they're sending out, they're...very strange."

There was movement in the trees, boots shuffling on the ground. Five snapped to alertness, his thoughts finally focusing, his senses prickling his skin and his nerves in the familiar manner.

"I'm leaving," Lila said quickly, teleporting away in blue ripples when she felt Five pull on his power. For Five, though, the spatial energy fizzled and diminished lethargically on his hands. He knew he couldn't pull off a jump, but he instinctively tried anyway.

In a second, Five was surrounded by about 15 or so gas-masked field agents, all guns trained on him. But not even panic could supply his body with enough energy, trembling with just the effort of keeping upright. He reached a shaking hand to his pocket to retrieve a small knife. He swallowed hard, trying to think of a way out. They would start shooting if he made a move, and he would move at the first sign of a trigger. This was bad.

A surprisingly long few seconds passed, and Five wondered if the delay was on purpose. Finally, the agent in the middle tilted his head slightly to the side and spoke. "Number Five is also here in this time. Permission to kill."

There was no kill order! At least not in the next 3 seconds. Summoning everything he had, Five went after the closest agent with a kick to the gun, and in the same motion tried to stab the knife to the neck.

The agent grabbed Five's hand, holding the knife with surprising strength and speed, before it could plunge in its intended destination. Five was easily overpowered, and panic filled his chest at the realization. He was too weak, and things were happening too fast.

The agent's other hand landed a punch to Five's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and loosening his grip on the knife . As he stumbled back, the knife was grabbed from Five's hand and the metal plunged in his abdomen. So quick did it happen that Five's mind processed the pain first before realizing what had occurred, sending a sudden fear of panic through him. Five cried out, the intensity of the pain shooting through his left side, momentarily overwhelming coherent thought.

Five fell back against the wall, a hand on his wound and feeling the warm, wet liquid seeping through his fingers. He struggled to assess the situation, blinking his vision rapidly in alarmed attempts to focus. Trying to ignore the pain that threatened to immobilize him, he noticed that none of the other agents had made a move, only the one he had attacked. This was strange for this particular Commission unit. Very, very strange. He didn't understand what was going on.

"Capture him alive," the same agent from earlier stated in the same monotone voice, and in the next second the rest of the soldier's moved towards him, guns dropping from their aim but still on high alert. The first two agents that approached him flipped their guns over, and Five's hand flew to his head protectively. The butts of guns struck him at the same time, one on his chest, and one on his stab wound, making him release a cry of pain as he fell to the ground. He whimpered as a few kicks found their way to his wound, pulling his knees up tighter, body folded in to protect himself. He gritted his teeth tightly to bear the beating, small moans escaping between ragged breaths.

And he wondered when they would stop. The order was not to kill him, right?

As if to answer his question, a strong hand gripped the front of his jacket, pulling him up and slamming him violently against the brick wall. He gasped again with the pain, body convulsing suddenly, and he realized just how gentle Luther had been with him earlier. His hands fisted, instinctively attempting to pull at his power a few times, but still not harnessing near enough to actually open a hole in space. Pain radiated up and down his body, his frazzled breathing reacting to it and finding no pattern to hold on to.

"Number Five is secure, initiate return sequence." With that, the rest of the unit marched back into place to where they were earlier, a few feet from him and the agent holding him. Vision still burred, he couldn't see what the unit was doing, but they appeared to be preparing something, most likely a device to take him with them.

A flash of blue appeared beside him, and in the same instant a machete sliced off the head of the agent holding him up, warm blood spattering on his face. Five fell from the grip, and was immediately caught by two arms before he fell over, the front of his body pulled securely against another. He heard the guns move to aim toward their direction.

"Hold on, little man," Lila said, as she tightened her arms around him in a sea of blue, pushing both of them through the rip in space.

They appeared in an apartment, the momentum of the push making him stumble backwards, with Lila still holding on to him until they hit the wall behind him. The jolt of the sudden collision with the wall made his breath hitch in pain.

"I thought you were going to teleport out too!" she said exasperated, pulling her arms away, turning to walk to the other side of the small living room. "It's your power after all that I was mirroring, I figured you knew how to use it!"

Five realized he couldn't keep his own weight up immediately after Lila's support was withdrawn. The sharpest pain radiated from the stab wound, but waves of pain washed over his body as the adrenaline left him, making him grit his teeth and tremble involuntarily. A wave of dizziness also conspired to take away his vision and balance, and Five slid down the wall, then lost consciousness.

Lila turned around with the thud of Five's body hitting the floor.

***********

"Do you think Five will come back tonight?" Vanya said, as she placed a set of small clothes for Five on the couch in the motel room living room, absently placing a hand on her injured shoulder when she felt some pain. Allison, accompanied by Diego at his insistence (Luther would have attracted too much attention), had gone out earlier and acquired various sizes of t-shirts and sweatpants for each of them to sleep in, as well as some toiletries. She surveyed the water bottle and snacks on the table they had left for Five before turning back towards the bedroom.

"Where else would he go to sleep?" Luther said, drying his damp hair with a towel, being the last to use the shower that evening. Allison smacked Luther's arm with irritation. It was the fifth smack that evening, the first being immediately after Five had jumped. Only the first was accompanied by a tongue lashing, though, while the rest randomly occurred. Luther looked equally perturbed and penitent each time.

Allison had just finished preparing a makeshift sleeping area on the floor in the bedroom using both comforters from each bed and an extra pillow. It had been decided that Luther would be too big to fit comfortably in a bed with someone else.

"Does he even sleep? I don't remember the last time he slept," Allison said. She does remember when Five passed out at Harold Jenkins' attic, but that was so long ago she thought it wasn't worth mentioning. But the memory made her slightly anxious. She grabbed another extra pillow and pulled the blanket off from Diego and Klaus in a swift movement.

"Hey, I need that!" Diego complained. Allison merely raised an eyebrow and proceeded to the living room.

"You and Klaus can keep each other warm," Allison said over her shoulder. "Five's always cold." She arranged the blanket on the couch and placed the folded set of clothes on top of the pillow.

Diego placed a hand on his forehead and released a sigh of resignation, then shifted his glance to Klaus next to him on the bed. Diego had assumed that Klaus was watching the news on TV, but realized that he had actually been staring off to the side of the television instead.

"Do you think Five got into trouble?" Vanya continued to fret.

"He can take care of himself. He's always coming and going. He'll be fine," Diego said unconcerned, his attention already shifted to Klaus.

"Hey, is there a ghost in the room?" Diego asked a little apprehensively.

"Hm? Oh, no, not in this room. There were some uglies limping around the hallway, though," Klaus said distractedly before adjusting his eyes properly to the TV. The group had earlier been watching the news to learn as much as they could about this new timeline. At the moment, though, it was background noise to which they were only slightly attuned to.

"You okay?" Diego asked. Klaus had seemed absent-minded and less talkative than normal, and Diego thought he knew why. "That was Ben at the Academy, wasn't it."

"Was it though," Klaus said in a casual voice and with a faraway look.

The conversation topic drew the other siblings to Klaus and Diego's bed. Vanya had related to them the story of Ben's loving sacrifice while they were resting at Sissy's house. They had already mourned their brother a second time, but the heartache there was accompanied by pleasant recollections and outrageous stories from Klaus that brought a warm, comforting sadness.

This was the third time to mourn. But only a new, terrible sense of loss came with it.

"We know our brother, we know Ben," Allison said, putting a hand on Klaus' shoulder. "And we know he loved us."

Vanya began to sob softly. She hugged herself for comfort, recollecting Ben's final embrace.

"Everything is wrong right now, but we have each other, and right now that's enough." Luther said confidently.

And the siblings took comfort in each other, hands squeezing in support, talks of their plans tomorrow pulling each of them through the sadness and towards the possibilities of the future. 

"Maybe I can start over and try the police academy again," Diego mused in hopes.

"We could open a business. A nail salon?" Klaus said thoughtfully. "Me and Allison are artists." He shared a warm look with Allison.

"Hey, maybe we could even talk to this Ben. Maybe our Ben is still in there," Vanya said, tears still spilling from her eyes.

Not much words were spoken, but each utterance gave them reassurance and strength. There was a mutual understanding in the silence between, that each of them had a life they wanted to lead, each had a desire to fulfill, each had a future that they could create for themselves. All these would give them the ability to forge ahead. And they were confident they could find their place anywhere as a family.

***************

There was a tug of awareness, and then another pull. The pain uncomfortable but blunted slightly by the haze. Five stirred and pulled his eyes open.

Lila paused from her work on stitching Five's wound.

"Oh geez, is this like a family thing?" She huffed in a mask of annoyance. "Getting stabbed and waking up while I'm trying to put you back together." She glanced a moment at Five's face before continuing with the stitching. "Don't you dare move around too. Diego wouldn't keep still when I was working on his wound. Had to force him back to unconsciousness." Lila's lips turned up in a small, reminiscing smile, eyes softening at a longed-for memory.

"Thanks, Lila," he said weakly, voice a little rasp. "And thanks for saving Diego's life before."

Five found that he was without his blazer, vest, and undershirt. The unbuttoned white shirt he was left wearing was partly soaked in drying blood

"You're welcome," she said with a small sigh. "I'm just closing your wound so you don't bleed to death in my apartment. Not planning to nurse all your other injuries." Five didn't respond, and Lila took note of the boy's listless condition. "You can stay on this couch tonight, I guess."

"Thanks," he replied after a few moments. "My siblings are pissed, don't want to go back right now."

"Oh, the usual then? What you do?"

"Something that got my sister hurt. They're mad. It's justified."

Lila pulled the thread to close up the last stitch, looking up as if expecting him to move. But Five kept still.

"You're done," she said. "You're a much better patient than your brother, and you can tell him that." Another soft smile, another recollection. Visions of a dream played behind her eyes. Five wondered if she even saw him right now.

Five's eyes closed momentarily and reopened lazily a few times. Sleep was pulling him down again, with a tempting promise of a reprieve from the physical pain.

"You have a heck of a lot of bruises that will be forming soon, and probably some other problems. But you've got a really nasty bruise on your forehead already, looks like it had a longer time to really start getting dark. Definitely a concussion. How'd you get that?"

"Someone threw a frying pan at me earlier today." Five gave a feeble, accusatory look with a small smile.

"That was...today?" Realization set in on her eyes, then a solemn, sad look. "I was really angry," she said quietly.

And the daydream shattered.

Lila began slowly putting the contents of the first aid kit away, eyes looking distant, swallowing hard a few times. Five shifted his body to turn away, tugging his open shirt over his torso, curling slightly on his right side to fit better on the couch, which kept the weight off the new wound. He buried his head comfortably on the couch corner, and it may have also been to hide his face from Lila. He had said the wrong thing. It was easy for him to fumble the emotional part of people.

The room felt cold. Five wished he had a blanket.

"Good night Five." Weariness pulled him down lower towards the envelop of sleep. Nearly almost beyond his consciousness, he registered that Lila hadn't moved until he heard her get up and turn off the lights. The sound of her movement towards the bedroom melding with his subconsciousness already, along with the distant sounds of his own steady breathing. A vague awareness in his mind that she stopped halfway, breathing heavily. The click of a revolver, and he could tell that she had the gun aimed at his head.


	3. A Second Chance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a plot-dump chapter. Hope I don't lose anyone with all this info I'm trying to get out. Wooh, I'm so nervous lol. Here's Chapter 3!

Normally when Five pretended to sleep in a situation of danger, a few predictable things would happen in sequence. The seven stages of this sequence are: 1. adrenaline, 2. senses at attention, 3. control breathing, 4. plot various distraction scenarios, 5. choose a plan, 6. execute the plan, and 7. fight or escape.

But this night, most of those things did not happen, because physical and mental fatigue had simply overcome him.

_Keep running, keep going!_ the voice in his head pleaded with him, to which he did attempt to acquiesce, opening his eyes to help push consciousness to the forefront of his mind.

So he plotted one scenario, since he remembered that the lamp on the table was within reach above his head. He could grab it and fling it in Lila's direction, then escape in the momentary distraction. He would have the benefit of the element of surprise.

But his planning ran into a few roadblocks when he remembered his injury, and how did Lila's door lock work? He couldn't recall seeing the lock (he had had a very bad night you see and had forgotten some basic assassin habits).

And tiredness simply weighed too heavy on him, holding his body captive to the couch.

Can I just rest now? He asked permission from himself. Since his siblings were alive and they had successfully outran the apocalypse after all. They could rebuild their lives like they did in the 60's, he postulated. The Commission's only interest was of him. They would actually be safer without him, and wouldn't he also rather not give the Commission the satisfaction of killing him one day?

The flower merchants appeared in his memory. Loving parents and two quick shots. A scared little girl and a life of happiness torn away. Granting her closure wasn't too much to ask of him.

His reasoning was sound, he knew it.

The voice in his head was still yelling protests at this current plan, but since it was garbled and indiscernible at the moment, Five just supposed it had agreed.

So Five closed his eyes, consciousness retreating back in the weariness of his mind. He paid no mind to the gun still pointed at his head. In the serene darkness of the small apartment, embraced comfortably by quiet calmness, Five surrendered contently to sleep.

***

Allison opened the blackout curtains , allowing the morning rays to flood the motel bedroom. A few bodies in the room began to stir, as was the intent of her action. Vanya, though, was already sitting on the bed that she and Allison had shared and was rubbing sleep from her eyes.

"Five more minutes, Ben," Klaus drawled out half-asleep on the bed further from the window, using an arm and a leg to pull Diego closer to him. Diego's eyes shot open at the attempted embrace, his body going rigid in rattled bewilderment. Pulling out his pillow from under his head, Diego smacked it on Klaus' face and extracted himself from his brother, and then managed to fall ungracefully off the bed on top of Luther while doing so.

Luther groaned awake on the floor.

Allison took a long inhale, "Boys," she said, shaking her head slightly.

Vanya couldn't see Luther on the floor, but she laughed softly when Diego's head shot up from beside the bed, his countenance painted with comical bafflement.

Allison smiled at her sister, motioning her to go and use the bathroom ahead of their brothers.

Vanya glanced at the couch as she passed the entrance to the living room and frowned at the untouched bedding and snacks. Five didn't come back last night, and a twinge of worry had her clutching a hand to her chest.

Allison spotted Vanya's concern. She had already seen what Vanya saw, and she tutted in worried disappointment about it for the second time that morning.

"After you're all ready, meeting in the living room," Allison announced.

The siblings gathered for their family meeting after finishing their morning routines. Everyone was still dressed in the t-shirt and sweatpants pajamas. So the first on the to-do list was to acquire more clothes.

"But I can't be rumoring for everything we need. We need to find jobs, steady incomes."

So Vanya noted the second family to-do list item on her notepad and then nodded a continue gesture to Allison. Other survival essentials were helpfully added by the rest of the siblings: meals, hair cuts, vehicle, a place to live, IDs.

The second category was regarding their relationship to this timeline. Are there different versions of themselves and can they find out more about them? Should they keep their distance or should they try to make contact?

Luther attempted to explain something about itching, flatulence, and homicidal rage, but failed to relate it in a comprehensible manner, so instead he said that they would need to have Five explain it later.

Then, the subject shifted to finding out what happened to the people they left behind.

"Sissy and Harland Cooper."

"David Katz." Inquisitive looks flashed in Klause's direction, and he met the looks with a grin.

"You will make sure to tell us that story later," Diego said with a half-smile.

"Sure," Klaus said, easing into a salacious grin. "But you're only getting the PG-13 version."

There was a moment of unbelieving stares from his siblings.

"Ew, Klaus," Allison said. "Don't insinuate we want something more than that." But then it was her turn to say her names.

"Raymond Chestnut." And then in a whisper, "Claire."

It was painful for Allison to say her name, because it came with the fear of possibly never being able to see her daughter again. No one else in the family could understand the feeling of a mother not being able to hold on to her daughter's existence. It was the only thing, really, about their entire time-traveling romps that she regretted with her entire being.

Her family offered emphatic, reassuring smiles. It was the only things they could do for her at the moment.

Sometimes, Allison thought, maybe it was better for her to die in the apocalypse holding her daughter than to have survived without her. But the hope that maybe Five could fix it had kept her going.

But they had to stop waiting on Five, because no matter how much Five would say that he would fix everything, he really couldn't. And this was why Allison was here at the moment, pushing her family to take hold of their own futures.

The rest of the meeting was spent on pairing up and planning the tasks in detail.

"What about returning to 1963?" Vanya asked with a hopeful tone once the meeting came to a stopping point.

"We'll have to talk to Five about that," Luther said apologetically. Allison reached out and gave Vanya a squeeze on her hand.

Vanya shrank back in disappointment.

" _You ever find a safe way back to me, you take it_ ," Sissy's voice repeated in her head.

Yes, Vanya thought. Even if she couldn't find a way, she would make one herself. So with firm determination and hope, she began planning.

***

Five awoke to the joyful sound of plates hitting the table, the cheery smell of food and coffee registering in his senses soon after. His eyes opened to sunlight welcoming him a little too enthusiastically to a new day. How he seemingly developed a power upgrade overnight as useless as sensing happiness in every environment factor, he did not in the least bit cared to know.

In defiance to the delightfully gleeful morning, Five groaned grouchily.

"Sleepyhead's awake. I cooked some eggs and toast." The cheeriness in Lila's voice was a strange offset to the final memory of last night. A question formed in Five's head, and the lack of an answer bothered him.

He warily uncurled his body to lay flat on his back, cursing under his breath at the pain on his left side as he did so.

Five made a mental survey of his body, moving limbs slightly to assess his current state. Bothersome aches inhabited most every part of his body, some throbbing, some more irritatingly painful. The familiar feeling harkened back to certain unpleasant days in the apocalypse.

But admittedly his present condition was better compared to the sluggish agony of last night, so he ventured to sit up. The pull of his abdomen muscles as he raised himself had him hissing in pain, and he threw a hand to his wound.

"How are you feeling?" Lila asked brightly as she eyed him, hands still working to set up the breakfast table.

"Fantastic," Five said irritably. He really was trying, though, to get his patience to start working properly that morning, but all the happy energy pulsing out of Lila kept knocking it back offline.

"I'm going to steal some groceries later," Lila said, the chipper, casual voice a testament to the normality of her plan. "Can you come with me? It would be much easier if I teleport." Five finished up buttoning his blood-stained shirt before replying.

"Did you just ask me if you could use my powers to steal." Five stated, a quarreling tone, as he laboriously pushed himself up to stand.

Lila thought that Five must be feeling better since he was returning to his usual grumpy self. She decided she much rather preferred the almost-dead version of her guest.

Five gingerly moved towards the table to grab a mug for his coffee, but stopped to grip the chair in front instead, shutting his eyes momentarily as a wave of dizziness came over him. And a terrible pounding in his head had him wincing again. He took a few deep breathes before continuing.

"Hey, don't judge me. I saw your sister mind-controlling for your groceries last night."

Five's caustic mood was gravity, and Lila dug her heels to resist the pull. The day had held so much promise, Lila thought in annoyance.

Five turned his body to face Lila, leaning against the chair for support. His body felt like one big bruise which, indeed, made him exceptionally grumpy that morning.

But aside from all of that, he had a question that he wanted an answer to.

"Just be a little respectable." Five began, eyes narrowing cruelly. "Your parents were at least flower merchants."

The gun flew up quickly to Five's head, inches away. Lila's face tensed angrily, a storm brewing in her eyes.

And Five got what he wanted, confirmation that she still wanted to kill him for murdering her parents.

He breathed out a miserable sigh.

"Why didn't you shoot last night?" Five asked quietly, surliness gone from his voice, replaced by a melancholy tone that echoed almost painfully in his eyes.

Divergent emotions flickered through Lila's eyes, one after the other as her brain slowly grasped understanding of the situation. From hostile hatred, to mild confusion, to thoughtful recognition. She bit her lip slightly as her inner self acclimated to the abrupt changes, and finally sighed as the full realization set in on what Five had just done.

Lila slowly placed the gun back in the holster, shaking her head slightly.

"Are you suicidal or something Five?" She asked, not harshly. Five laughed softly, unexpectedly.

"If I was suicidal, I would have done it a long time ago." It was said with an awful, disquieting smile. Lila paused to assess Five's state of mind, to determine an acceptable reply, and to gauge what his response would be. It was an arduous undertaking, though, for it was not in her nature to bother with any of that.

"Well, you said you would help me with Diego," Lila said truthfully, assuredly, wondering why she had even wasted energy overthinking it. But nevertheless, she found herself searching Five carefully.

"Right," Five said resignedly as he turned to grab the mug on the table. "I almost forgot."

Exactly how much override capability does Lila's feelings for Diego have? Five wondered. And how worried should he be that the answer didn't much matter to him?

***

Breakfast was too quiet an affair for Lila, boredom being something that her mind did not tolerate well. And at the moment, Five made for extremely dull company.

"The briefcases are being tracked," Lila said casually after taking a sip of orange juice.

Five's eyes filled with sudden anxiety, fingers gripping his fork tightly. Ah finally, there was the Five that Lila remembered. A boy forever in the grips of overwhelming stress and urgency. Did it really only take his family's safety to trigger him back to the way he was before?

Lila impishly hid a smirk behind a bite of her toast. She should feel bad, she thought, but what are little brothers for if not for teasing?

"Wh..what?" He stammered. "The briefcase is with my siblings." Five stood up and looked ready to blink out in panic, so Lila thought it was time to pull back her playful ruffling.

"It's fine as long as they don't activate it." Lila said nonchalantly, grabbing another toast from the center of the table. "Only the destination is tracked. When I use the briefcase to time travel, the Commission are on me the second I arrive."

Five still appeared agitated, but something was missing from the Five she knew before. It was the lack of snark, she realized. It was more fun before when he could go toe-to-toe with her on snarky replies, she remembered. She just presumed that he still probably wasn't feeling well from last night.

"But, we were fine when we arrived yesterday," Five said, attempting to fit a stray data point in place.

"I know. But I'm positive that all briefcases are being tracked," Lila continued. "Especially rogue ones without prior authorization. I'm thinking of going back to Commission headquarters, see if I can find out something."

Lila saw the questioning look on Five's face.

"The tracking doesn't activate if the destination is headquarters," Lila clarified.

"I'll come with you," he said decisively.

"Heh. No way. You're a liability right now. Can you even teleport yet?" she said incredulously. "Though if I deliver you to the Commission, I probably could make a deal for my freedom. They're incredibly obsessed with you after all, for as long as I can remember." Lila flashed a playful smirk at Five's concerned face.

If Lila was truly considering this course of action, she would of course not have said it out loud for Five to hear.

Although six months ago, she would have betrayed Five without a second thought.

"Relax, I'm just kidding," she said dismissively, her half-hearted attempt at reassurance. "In any case, I need to check your wound. I'll place a water-proof dressing on it so you can take a shower."

Which was much simpler than it sounded, since Five had gone in full grouchy, stubborn, don't-touch-me, this-is-irrelevant mode after he had worked himself up to a semi-frenzy over the Commission and his siblings' safety and whatever worst case scenarios that no sane person could possibly come up with.

***

Nothing ever scared Lila.

She was a storm that broke through every barrier in life with reckless confidence. She charged at every mission as a whirlwind of brash spontaneity, always returning to her mother with the objective in hand and a smirk of triumph on her lips. No task intimidated her, no situation ever daunted her.

This very moment, then, was a bewildering, unfamiliar feeling.

Lila stood against the wall outside the closed motel room door, her briefcase on the floor beside her leg. She brushed her hair with her fingers and anxiously straightened her clothes. She was aware that she might be feeling a bit like a lovestruck teenager about to go on a first date. Not that she had any experience of the sort, but she just imagined it might be a bit similar.

She sighed at the noisy commotion coming from inside the room.

A flash of blue, and Five appeared in front of her with a briefcase, panting, and in pain. Again.

Lila rolled her eyes peevishly. "Did you just mess that up?"

Five didn't respond, holding the briefcase with a death grip, the other hand holding his wound on his abdomen. He leaned tiredly back against the door.

The door handle jiggled behind him, and Lila picked up her own briefcase, grabbed Five's arm and teleported them away.

They appeared at an alleyway, the jump itself smooth and precise as Lila had made the extra effort. The area was quiet despite the bustling street at the mouth of the alley, which afforded them privacy.

She released Five's arm from her grip, and Five limped himself to the left wall to lean back against.

"My flat is in this building, there," Lila said, pointing to the opposite wall of the alley while making her way to stand next to Five. "Address is 553A, if you forgot."

Five took in the outline and composition of the alley before settling his eyes on the opposite building ahead.

"I need to go home for a bit, Five, to my mum's house by Commission headquarters. There's weapons there, and some of my mum's...," she paused slightly before correcting herself, "I mean the Handler's, files. As well as a master key that I need."

Five slid down to a comfortable sitting position, hoisting the briefcase on his lap as he pulled up both knees.

"Is it safe for you there?" Five asked.

Lila went down to sit beside Five as well, placing her briefcase on the ground on her other side.

"No one should be checking on the house. It should be fine. I'll stay overnight, then do a bit of recon at headquarters the next day before coming back here."

The alley shadowed them from the sun. The sounds of traffic and people were distant but strangely relaxing as ambient sounds. Lila noted that Five seemed to relax easier when sitting outdoors. Or maybe he had worn himself out again from the encounter with his siblings. Lila found herself subconsciously matching Five's current disposition. The situation was reminiscent of last night.

"Hey, Five," she said, turning her head to face him. "I need you to be here when I return tomorrow. This alley at exactly 4pm."

Five turned to face Lila as well, then surprisingly, grinned scathingly. "You mean you need my powers here." The words dripped bitterly, taking Lila momentarily aback. Then she turned livid.

"Yes, you little shit, you owe me! You owe me everything!" She burned her angry eyes through Five, thinking the thoughts that she had said she would forgive of him. And on top of that, she thought furiously, he hadn't even made good on his promise to help her with Diego yet. Lila reared for a fight.

But Five turned his head away instead to stare forward. Then both his hands carefully reached to grab his forehead, closing his eyes and leaning forward on the briefcase.

Lila deflated, realizing she might have angered too quickly. And there was something that she was trying to understand about Five, in the strange way that he would push buttons. What brought it on, or maybe what was he attempting to accomplish?

Five stayed in that position for a few moments, breathing quietly. Lila thought that his headache earlier might be turning into a migraine.

For a second also, Lila thought that maybe Five had passed out, until he finally spoke.

"I'll be here, don't worry." His voice was muffled by his position, but the words were said confidently.

"We're at the edge of the timeline, so it should buy us a minute when I come back." Lila thought of explaining, but thought that maybe Five's head couldn't handle that information at the moment. "Stay at my place, rest up, get your powers working properly again, and I'll take you with me next time."

Lila stood up and took a last look at Five on the ground and sighed. The boy was wearing her out just looking at him.

"You still need to keep your promise, about Diego, I mean." Lila said, then added, "and maybe the rest of your family too? Properly this time." She hoped for a chance, or more accurately, she supposed, a second chance.

She didn't wait for a response from Five. She activated her briefcase and disappeared.

***

(Earlier)

Vanya was tempted to open it.

The lock combination on the briefcase looked ordinary enough. But the fact that it could control both time and space destinations presented as evidence of its deceptive outside appearance.

Vanya slumped back on the headboard, readjusting her legs on the bed to pull the briefcase closer to her face, crinkling her nose at the thing. If it truly was a sophisticated piece of time traveling machinery, then the more complicated controls would be inside.

"Careful there, Sis, don't want you to be blasted into another time period," Klaus said from the other bed with a wink, making a not-so-subtle reference to his own fateful time-traveling exploit he recounted to the family earlier that day. Vanya gave a half-smile back.

She knew handling it was prohibited, remembering how overprotective Five was of the briefcase back at Sissy's house.

Nevertheless.

It was the sole pathway back to Sissy. And it frustrated her that only Five knew how to work it, because he didn't seem all that interested in going back.

She had a plan, you see, and she wanted to make a pitch for it at the next family meeting. It involved a bit of a time heist, and she had been using Klaus as a soundboard to iron out the details. By the next family meeting, hopefully, her plan would be fully formed.

She wished Five would just stay put, if he could at least be present at the next family meeting. The family would listened, and she was confident they would agree with her plan because it was a good plan. But Five doesn't listen. But if the entire family was on her side, then maybe, maybe there was a chance to convince Five.

She hated it, actually, that it was always up to Five. The one who never takes their feelings into consideration when he makes a decision. And he's always the one making the decisions that mattered the most.

There was a knock on the door, and Vanya placed the briefcase down on the floor beside the bed.

"I'll get it," Diego said as he moved towards the door.

It could be Five, Vanya thought hopefully. Although Five didn't usually knock or use the door.

"Well, look who's back." Diego announced.

***

Five headed towards the bedroom closet with deliberate strides, paying no attention to anyone or anything else in the room. The briefcase would be there, he reassured himself, he just needed to see it with his own eyes. Then this loud pounding in his ears, this uneasiness in his stomach, this tightening in his chest, it would all just disappear. Because then everything would be okay.

He quickly slid open the mirror closet door and looked at the corner where he had left the briefcase.

And it wasn't there. It wasn't there. It wasn't there.

Yes, he was aware that his brain was stuck in a loop. He was also aware that he wasn't breathing. He forced himself to focus, to get his mind unstuck, to move forward, and to simply breathe.

He also noted that his brain was annoyingly fuzzy.

Think of possibilities, Five told himself. Maybe someone had just moved it, though the thought of one of his siblings touching the briefcase added to his stress all the same.

"Where's the briefcase?" Five managed to ask out loud.

He worried that one of his siblings had taken it outside, so he looked around the room and counted in his head.

One and Three were missing.

"Where's Luther and Allison?" he asked his second question, hands clenching on his sides in growing concern.

In the moments before any answer came, a dozen scenarios and plans had already assaulted Five's mind.

Do Allison and Luther have the briefcase? Did they accidentally activate it? What should Five do if the Commission have them already? Are they going to be used to lure him? Lila has a briefcase, they could go to the headquarters and find out...

"Oh, it's right here," Vanya said casually, grabbing the handle of the case from beside her, then began walking towards Five. "I was just trying to see how it worked."

"Luther and Allison haven't finished running their errands," Diego added. "You would know this if you were even the least bit interested in family matters." But Diego's words were merely background noise to Five. Instead, he zeroed in on the information that mattered.

"Are you out of your mind?" Five yelled a little too angrily than he intended due to some form of violently manifesting relief. "Never touch this briefcase ever again," he said, grabbing it roughly from Vanya's hand.

Vanya's eyes widened in a look of shock, then narrowed slightly in confusion.

But Five at the moment was too busy pulling himself back from the verge of hysterics to worry about the consequences of his words and actions. The multitudes of what-ifs and what-could-haves would not stop forming in his head. It didn't happen, he kept telling himself, hoping to make the scenarios stop appearing in his thoughts. And he wouldn't let it happen. No, he wouldn't let anything happen to Vanya.

His headache, he realized, was becoming unbearable.

"Hey!" Diego yelled angrily. "Stop yelling at her! You're the one who hasn't been around!"

"Oh dear," Klaus said as he got up to join his angry siblings. "Five, as a reliable witness, I testify that Vanya was being super careful with it." Klaus said, putting an arm around Vanya's shoulders, giving her a reassuring smile.

Five pressed his fingers on his temples in an attempt to stop the pain and to calm himself down.

"I'm taking the briefcase," he said forcefully.

For Vanya, the briefcase held her heart. She reached out her hand towards Five in a pleading gesture for him to not take away her hope and future.

"Wait, Five, why do you have to take it?" She was shaking as despair crept in. She wished with all her might that she could make him listen.

But then she remembered she wasn't powerless. She could stop him, she thought. A determined purpose welled up in her chest to stand up for herself. She could stop him by force and make him listen.

But she wouldn't, she couldn't, it wasn't right for her to use her strength against Five. She knew he would never forgive her.

So she deflated, pulling her hands back to clutch her arms, calming her threatening power, allowing the pathetic feeling of defeat to fill inside herself. In helpless frustration, she began to cry.

Klaus tightened his grip around her shoulders, pulling her in a semi-hug.

"This briefcase is dangerous," Five said decisively, full of the self-appointed authority that he had over his siblings.

Which agitated Diego.

"Dangerous, so only you can handle it?" Diego asked incredulously, not handling his frustration very well at the moment.

"It's being tracked, I have to get it away from you idiots." Five replied as he headed for the door, but Diego grabbed his arm before he could go further.

"Hey, what the hell does that mean?" Diego asked forcefully.

"What, are you unable to comprehend a simple sentence Diego? It means what I said!"

"Look, Five, just stay, alright? Just stay and wait for Allison and Luther to get back." They're bringing food, Diego wanted to say. And there's information regarding the Sparrow Academy's abilities. And so many other things that Five should know because he is supposed to be a member of the family and he needed to start acting like one. And there's change of clothes for him in the bedroom. Although, DIego noted from this distance, Five smelled freshly showered, and his clothes smelled newly washed as he caught a whiff of the scent of fabric softener. Diego suddenly wondered where Five had been staying.

"Let go!" Five said as he attempted to wrench his arm off of Diego's grip, but Diego was far stronger than him physically.

"We're trying to make the best of this stupid situation as a family and you keep running off!"

No, Diego doesn't handle frustration very well.

He shoved his small brother against the wall, and Five let out a small cry, face scrunched up in pain, his free hand curling in his mid-section.

Surprised, Diego let go immediately, then attempted to reach out to Five's shoulder in concern. Five roughly shoved off the hand, falling back against the wall.

"Damnit, Diego," Five said through clenched teeth.

And The Boy disappeared again in blue luminescence as he always did.

***

Diego bolted down the steps of the motel, diving into the busy street below with anxious, determined steps. The crowded streets revealed the end of the school and work day. He scanned the multitudes of faces with the familiar ease of a hunter, possessing the ability to process environmental sensory information effortlessly. It was a gift that served him well as a vigilante roaming darkened, dangerous streets.

Tracking prey was normally a simple task for Diego, unless his objective was a slippery teleporting former assassin, that is.

And every minute his searched produced no sign of Five, the deeper the worry burrowed itself in his chest. Because it had been unmistakable - Five had an injury, and he was in a lot of pain. And knowing how reckless his brother was when it came to himself made Diego even more upset. Whether he was upset at Five or himself, he couldn't sort out at the moment. He just knew it was an an emotion that pushed him to keep anxiously searching.

He rounded a corner, still scanning every face, every shop, every walk way, until he saw a sight that stopped him in his tracks.

She was standing only several feet in front of Diego. Hair parted on the side, pulled back in a low pony-tail. A cup of coffee in hand, leaning against a street pole.

Eudora Patch.

Time appeared to slow, the silence muffled the noise, and the confusion of the world disappeared around them. For Diego, in that serene moment of time, only the two of them existed at the center of the universe.

Because it was his Eudora. His beautiful Eudora. His kind, caring, confident, brilliant Eudora. Staring contemplatively at nothingness while subconsciously swirling what coffee was left in her cup. She had on the same brown jacket she usually wore back then, but at the moment with a black v-neck shirt underneath, wearing her usual badge over it.

Images of her dead, bloody body at the motel came to Diego's mind, encroaching on their private, tranquil world. Beautiful face, soft and lifeless to his trembling fingers.

Diego didn't realize he had stopped breathing until his lungs released his breathes in shudders. And the bustling world suddenly reappeared around him again, enlivened when he broke out of his trance. He didn't realize he had tears in his eyes, which he swiftly wiped away, chiding himself to keep himself together.

He wanted to touch her, talk to her. Assure himself that she was real and truly alive. That she didn't die because he had guilted her about going off the book to check on his brother. That he hadn't been too late to save her.

That she had a second chance. That maybe they both were gifted a second chance.

He looked down at his simple fitted white t-shirt and blue jeans attire and thanked Klaus and Vanya in his head for finishing their shopping errand early, otherwise he would have been still wearing his over-sized t-shirt and sweatpants pajamas. He was also thankful for the haircut and shave that all the family took turns giving and receiving that morning, resulting in him wearing the scruffy look on his face that he remembered she thought was sexy about him. He looked good, he was confident, and he composed himself before approaching her.

"Eudora," he said to her simply, relishing every syllable.

***

"So the First Seven have appeared." a woman's voice said, echoing lightly off the walls of the study in hypnotic aural waves. "In your branched timeline."

Reginald Hargreeves slammed his hands on his desk in frustration.

The three holographic images in the center of the room stood patiently, giving Reginald a few moments to compose himself. The light hum of electricity whispered during the momentary pause, weaving with the sounds of Reginald's heavy breathing.

"It's too late for them," Reginald said flatly, closing his eyes in further attempt at calm.

"You only have one of the First Seven, Reggie," a man's soothing voice reminded him, kindly. Reggie looked up at the glowing image of the man that spoke with a stare of determination.

"My Sparrows will be enough," Reggie said with confidence.

"And what of The Boy of Time?" the third holographic figure asked, voice emotionless and carrying a slight chill in the air.

"He cannot, it's impossible for him now," Reggie said with what could have been feigned certainty, if one knew Reggie better.

"But without The Boy of Time . . . " the woman began, before Reginald roughly interrupted.

"No, we cannot afford to hope on the impossible. We have no other choice."

"Reggie," the gentle male voice queried comfortingly. "Since when have you stopped hoping for the impossible?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter - I haven't started drafting it yet lol. But not much Lila, some action, and I'm hoping to try to bring out certain story elements. But first, my Mark for Later list is getting so long that it's stressing me out lol.


	4. Cold and Soulless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who stuck around still for this fic, hope you're still enjoying it! ^_^

Eudora Patch was good at reading people. Motives could never hide from her, eyes could never lie to her.

It was what she did for a living after all.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Her question surprised the stranger, a blush on his handsome face. But the dishonesty in his response was admittedly concerning.

"No sorry, I'm Diego, um, Harris." Nevertheless, the lie had made the man so uncomfortable that his charm managed to sneak through Eudora's defenses anyway.

"Well, Mr. Harris, what can I do for you?" It was the man's eyes, Eudora thought, the way they held onto hers for dear life. The reason she allowed the clumsy advances to continue. It could have also been the seductive smile, possibly.

"I, uh," he hesitated, then appeared to steel in his resolve. "Look, I know this sounds crazy, but I know you from a different life."

Eudora blinked in surprise, then smiled in intrigue, and found herself curiously agreeing to dinner.

Because motives could never hide from her, eyes could never lie to her.

***

"Trust me, these are the best street food tacos in the city," Diego said, smirk effectively charismatic.

"So in this other life, I liked these tacos?" Playful incredulity accompanied her smile. She always had a taste for strong flavors, Diego remembered.

"They were your favorite," Diego said, reminiscing a far away memory.

He knew all her preferred sides and toppings. It somehow felt like he was cheating, but all's fair in love and war, he thought.

They walked the evening streets in comfortable, but unmistakably flirtatious, companionship, hitting just the right buttons to make her laugh. And as the night grew later, he found the shawarma food truck that she would always crave during late night work hours. She had always beamed gratefully whenever he had brought some for her back then. He was thankful that his share of the family petty cash that Allison had somehow magically conjured up for all of them seemed to be enough to last him through the evening.

It had started to rain, and Diego cursed the skies for its meddling. He had tried to shield the first drops from her head using one hand, while using his other to protectively drag them under a shop awning, pulling her body close to his to keep her from the offending rain. They were nearly soaked, and he had worried that Eudora would be upset, because he had remembered she didn't like being caught in a downpour. But Eudora had only laughed, eyes glinting with enchanted amusement. It reminded Diego of the early days when they had first fallen in love.

And that was when he knew that tonight he had managed to sweep her off of her feet.

And so before their night together ended, he boldly went in for a soft kiss.

"Good night, Eudora," Diego said in soft, panting breathes, as the electricity of the kiss had left them breathless.

His unusually pleasant mood before bed had his siblings flashing him curious looks and knowing smiles. He grasped the matchbox that she had scribbled her home phone number on as he laid in bed, his thoughts filled by dreams of a happy future.

***

There was that one man who walked a little slower than the crowd. Five peered over his sandwich curiously, having to squint slightly as the morning sun reflected off the shop's glass door across from where he was sitting. (He had promised Lila that he would be fully rested, so he had concluded that having a breakfast sandwich and soaking up some healthy early morning sun would qualify as self-care.)

There was another man walking by whose eyes were wider than normal, darting nervously from side-to-side and seemed to have forgotten that blinking was a normal human function. And there was another who blinked far too much. It was funny, Five mused, how people handled stressful situations differently.

Five wondered if this city had been infiltrated for a long while, or if they were here only for this specific mission. As fascinating as the thought of being in a fake city full of fake citizens was, the nervous awkwardness of it all suggested that those few were here only for an objective, or more specifically, they were here for him.

Five's sighed in disappointment, for he had hoped for a trouble-free day until Lila's return.

Five wiped the crumbs off the table and threw the soiled napkin away in the closest trash can. He decided that walking around would allow him to observe the actions of his overzealous fan club better. The streets were not terribly crowded, as the morning rush hour had not finished building yet, even in a city that normally awoke early. The sun had just recently risen, a coolness still in the air, but the strengthening rays of sunshine was a comforting warmth. He watched as people began their day, unaware that in another life they had all already been reduced to ash.

Taking another bite of his sandwich, he ambled over to a window shop to ostensibly admire some shoes on sale, trying not to make it too obvious that he had taken notice of the man standing close by, whose chest heaved a little too quickly and breathed with an irregular pattern. Both of them, though, were engulfed the next moment by a group of people who had just crossed the street on a green pedestrian light.

Five found himself contently smiling at the crowd. People were just people, he had come to realize in the years past, neither good nor bad. All just going through life within their own situations, each with their own stories. The truly vile, evil psychopaths were actually quite rare, and those kinds didn't fall much farther from Five's own range of monster. Most people who were considered good would probably fail their own morality test in a situation of despair. And most people who were considered bad just drew the short stick on life circumstances. Five certainly had no regrets in his part in saving the world, and he would fight for the world again if the situation arose. And in any case, he thought, he much preferred a world that was alive over a dead, quiet one.

Unwelcomed memories of hell entered his thoughts, and Five scanned the outline of the buildings above to distract himself.

There were no signs of snipers on rooftops or windows, but peculiar whirring sounds from multiple directions buzzed softly somewhere overhead. Five could not make out exactly the source of them.

Lila had said that the Commission combat unit only roamed the streets at night in this timeline. The only time they had appeared in daylight, she had informed him, was the one time she had used the briefcase to travel back from headquarters to this timeline, and it unfortunately had been daytime.

He continued walking down the street, finishing up the last bite of his breakfast. Interestingly, the whirring sounds seemed to follow him. By this time also, he had seen the same five or six men walk up and down his path. All appeared armed, a few had a hand roaming up to the weapon under their clothes in an apparently self-comforting manner when they had walked a little too closely by Five.

Five nonchalantly placed his hands in his pocket, feeling the knife there as he continued to casually glance around his surroundings while he walked, although he barely managed to suppress an eye-roll at a man wearing a loose-fit, wide-leg tapered ankle blue suit with a fedora hat. The man, quite obviously, was out of his own time.

Five passed by a small, aromatic bakeshop that had cupcakes on outside display, and a small, pleased smile played on his face. He already had coffee that morning at Lila's apartment, but thought maybe some sugar would be of help as well for what was to come. So he swiped a cupcake as he passed by, finishing the icing and throwing away the cake at the next trash can, licking his fingers contently.

Five rolled his shoulders, testing his back. Still aching, but it was not bad enough to slow him down too much, he determined. He performed an assessment on the rest of his body as he walked. His wound was still uncomfortably painful, but he would be able to handle it. He didn't think he would ever be at a hundred percent physically anyway. The troublesome headache was still there, but his thoughts were clear, so thankfully that would not be a problem, unlike it had been the last few days.

He neared the mouth of an alleyway and noticed that members of his fan club were coming from in front and behind his path. Ah, he realized, they must be attempting to bring him here. Had he noticed before that this city seemed to have an abundance of these convenient alleys? No matter, he thought as he turned to enter.

Five felt well rested, was well fed, and his energy level was high. He was relaxed at the moment, but he could feel a bloodlust creeping already in his chest, whispering for permission to take over his body.

The Commission thought they were hunting him? No, he thought, right now _they_ were _his_ prey. He tried to suppress a grin, but managed to accompany it with a disquieting giggle instead. Today was an unfortunate day for the Commission to come for his life, he thought.

Because this morning, you see, Five was at maximum power level.

***

They hadn't made plans to meet the next day, but Eudora knew he would come that morning. So she swirled her coffee cup and leaned on the pole the same way she did the first time they met, casting the spell once again.

"Hey stranger," his voice as smooth as she remembered last night, and she looked up to meet his eyes. "Take a walk with me?" She was sure that charming smile would be the death of her. He wore a light-blue shirt with a light jacket, brown in color, along with a confident smile.

Eudora was good at reading people, and even with the dubious last name and the ridiculous pick up line (that actually worked), she felt she could trust the man she had spent an evening of fantasy with.

"I may have some time to kill before work," Eudora teased, casually taking the last sip from her coffee cup before throwing it away.

Diego walked curb side, keeping her away from the streets, in the same manner as last night, and she knew his protective nature was inherent.

"Five," Diego said suddenly, pulling Eudora behind a building. He peered around the corner looking out on the street.

"And . . . what are we doing?" Eudora asked, crossing her arms.

"That's my brother, FIve," Diego informed her, surprised at his own discovery. "Wearing a school blazer, sitting down eating a sandwich." Eudora curiously peered around the corner in the same manner as him.

"Hm, he's adorable," she said dismissively (though actually thought so). "But, why are we hiding from your brother?" Her tone was casual, but meeting his family was a fascinating thought.

Diego's brother stood up and began walking, so Diego tugged at Eudora's arm for them to follow from a distance.

"He's the complete opposite of adorable. And it's just . . . shit," Diego said, forehead wrinkling in recollection. "I think he might have gotten himself into trouble yesterday."

They followed at a slow pace, until the distance puzzlingly grew.

"Uh, I think we're losing him."

"We can't follow too close, he'll know." Though the promise of another adventure with him interested Eudora, the morning was unfortunately growing late.

"Well, I gotta get to work soon," she said, disappointment in her voice. Her words stopped Diego, and suddenly all that mattered was prolonging their time together. Besides, Diego thought, Five seemed okay now.

"Do you have a few minutes for a breakfast sandwich before you go?" Eudora nodded with a smile.

***

The whirring noise moved about, and Five scanned his eyes above to track the sounds. There he found six small, black devices floating overhead in the alley. They were camera drones, Five determined, informing him that the forthcoming show had an audience.

Five scanned the alley, which was much wider than others in the city. He gave the Commission credit, as it would be too comical if they managed to shoot each other down in narrower space. There were many places for cover in the area, with back entrance gaps in the walls, a small shed, a few large trash bins, and fire escape stairs that would provide for leveraged views. He would need to be vigilantly aware of the environment. He didn't like the number of back windows susceptible to gunfire, though.

There was movement as a door opened at the back of the alley, and Five pre-emptively allowed the aggression to saturate his mind. His hands were still in his pockets, as an unhinged grin spread across his face, eyes squinting in a murderous glare.

Nine people emerged from the door, and seven came from the alley entrance. Five turned his body and backed slowly towards the right wall in order to view both groups that were converging towards him.

His attackers did not wear gas masks but plain clothes, which were similar as the ones that had been following him around in the streets. Their weapons were on hand and pointed at Five.

But some looked around nervously, some faces tensed with confused preparation, and some held the guns awkwardly.

_Shit_ , Five thought in frustrated realization. They weren't agents, they were local hires. Just people. Five's anger flared, because the Commission had set up lambs for him to slaughter.

"Do you know who you were hired to kill?" Five asked out loud, voice low and entirely too threating, and so he scrambled to push the mounting bloodlust away. He had decided before that he did not want to kill anymore, especially not like this.

"They paid well. We were told just to kill," a bearded man said out loud, holding a shotgun in a confident grip.

"It's just a child," said another, a surprised hesitation on his face, revolver trembling slightly.

The insanity had already begun encroaching in Five's mind, so he attempted to push that back as well, focusing on logic coherence. He did not want to engage in a rampage with these people, but he was finding it difficult to return to calm. So he breathed deeply, and once more, until he could trust himself to speak again.

"This isn't worth your life," Five said in a controlled tone. "Just walk away."

"I need the money, I'm sorry kid," another man answered, this one had a kind countenance.

_It doesn't matter_ , Five thought.

Five knew what he must do, knew he couldn't leave. Because otherwise they would continue to come after him.

_It doesn't matter._

And he had given them a choice, and they elected their path. So Five made his decision as well.

_It's just as simple as making everything stop mattering._

He resolved to kill them all within 2 minutes.

So Five allowed his heart to turn cold, as he always would before killing a target. His eyes read emotionless, staring as the color pallet dulled around him. His grin disappeared, his face turned frigidly stoic.

Head tilted slightly, he listened as the world calmed to an eerie quietness. The sounds of his heart beat slow, his breathing steady in its patience, he allowed the Nothingness to entrap his heart in its tranquil prison.

The sight of the boy staring with soulless eyes sent a chill down the core of all those who saw.

"What are you?" someone asked, frightened, but which one Five could no longer discern. All the men appeared the same at the moment - carotid arteries, jugular veins, major organs, and the like.

Five tightened his grip on the knife in his pocket and disappeared in a flash of blue.

***

The man in a blue suit settled down in his chair, light brown eyes transfixed at the images of the boy projected in multiple angles in the room. When the boy's eyes turned cold, his heart beat in excited anticipation at the impending fight. He subconsciously removed his fedora hat from his head, which mussed his light brown hair slightly, and placed it on the desk within reach. Loosening his blue tie, he leaned in closer to the images from his chair.

"Reya, have the Combat Unit prepare for standby," the man spoke without looking away from the projected images.

"Agent Merrick, a reminder that D21 Protocol prohibits the use of Combat Units in a branched timeline during daylight hours in public," a woman's voice beside him informed the man.

"Just as a precaution," he said.

Merrick's uneven smile came upon his face as the boy disappeared and reappeared behind the crowd of men that had surrounded him, striking the closest man on the neck with a knife. Before the group could even turn to see what had happened, the knife had already been pulled out and embedded in the shoulder of another.

A series of numbers and calculations began appearing on the projection screens, Merrick taking interest in one particular figure.

_Calculated Reaction Time:. .20s_

"He's incredible," Merrick said in awe. "No wonder the Bio/Engineering Department has taken great interest in him."

Five kicked a man in the knees, in the same motion stabbing another man in the chest. The knife was pulled out immediately, and the man who had been brought to his knees just a second earlier already had his throat severed in the next instant.

_Calculated Reaction Time: .19s_

Number Five made his way through the men at a speed that made it difficult to follow through the camera feeds alone. "He's getting faster, but there's no way he can keep that up much longer though," Merrick said, his bright eyes deeply mesmerized in intrigue.

_Calculated Reaction Time: .17s_

"He hasn't even teleported that many times. About 1 spatial jump per 4 kills so far."

The kills were beautifully clean and quick, the precision in the movements a work of art. And in less than 2 minutes, all 16 men were dead.

Agent Merrick could barely contain himself. So this was the agent that surpassed his own legendary status after he had retired, he thought, and he hungered to see more.

"Engage the Combat Unit," Merrick said, but Reya was quick to chide.

"The Doctor would not be pleased if the enhanced combat agents would be wasted. Agent Five is entirely too dangerous to take head on at the moment," Reya declared, her short dark hair and straight bangs bouncing slightly as she jutted her chin, not hiding her disapproval at Merrick's disregard for protocols.

"Aren't you curious, Agent Reya, just how skilled the legendary Number Five is?"

***

_Fifteen._

The bearded man watched in horror as the boy snapped the neck of the man on the ground, leaving him the last of the group. The boy's green eyes stared up, an awful emptiness, out of place on the face of a child.

"Are you even human?" the man asked, voice trembling, shotgun shaking in his hands. The boy took hold of the knife on the body on the ground and pulled it out, blood spraying slightly on his face.

Five took a step towards the bearded man, and excessive fear took hold of the man. He fired his shot gun wildly, but the boy disappeared from his sight.

"No, I'm not," the boy answered from behind, voice barely above a whisper but unmistakably young, and horrifyingly vacant. The man turned and stared immobile at inhuman eyes just as the boy slit his throat in a swift slash.

The last man's body fell on the ground with a heavy thud and Five closed his eyes to breath deeply, surprising himself when his breathes shuddered both in and out,

He pressed his fingers on his temples at his worsening headache, realizing that he probably smeared blood on his forehead while doing so. But he could not care about it at the moment.

_What was it for?_ Five asked himself. For his life, he thought bitterly. For his precious, overpriced life.

He gritted his teeth instead at the heaviness in his chest.

Boots shuffled towards him, and gas-masked Commission agents met his gaze when he looked up. Twelve of them, he counted, heading quickly his way. He wondered irritably why they had sent in the civilians if they meant to come anyway.

And anger quickly filled Five, because here was the Commission in front of him. They were the ones who killed without hesitance. The ones who ordered the kills to restore the precious Timeline. The ones who would ensure that all life on earth would be snuffed out by whatever means necessary, even triggering the destructive power of his own sister. The ones who created the hell that he was stuck in for 45 years. The ones that had taken everything from him, and the ones that he was fighting to take everything back from.

The ones who were the same type of monster as himself.

He released the rage, a burning in his core, lighting the world in exuberant colors. He allowed insanity to take his mind, like welcoming an old friend, which felt sardonically freeing. And when the bloodlust filled him, his heartbeat pounded loudly in intoxicating anticipation, fusing with the exploding chaos of the world around him.

Five licked his lips, relishing the taste of the impending kills in his mouth. A manic grin spread easily across his face, and soft laughter escaped from his lips.

And before the agents had even settled on a formation, Five had already jumped behind them for his first kill.

***

_Calculated Reaction Time: .10s_

"That's impossible," Merrick said, wondering just how low Five's reaction times could go.

_Calculated Reaction time: .09s_

"Sir, the outside variable has arrived. Five's brother has reached the alley."

***

Above, the sounds of distant gun fire carried through the air. Both Diego and Eudora's heads shot towards the source of the disturbance.

"Stay here," Eudora said as she stood from the table, abandoning her half-eaten sandwich. Her body language turned composed, eyes narrowing at her sharpening focus.

She began to jog in the direction of the far alley, nimbly maneuvering through civilians, when suddenly Diego bolted ahead of her.

"Hey! Stay behind me!" she commanded fiercely, but Diego merely slowed for her to catch up.

"It's my brother, it's Five, I know it!" Diego yelled back, knife already in hand. Eudora didn't know what to make of of the knife at the moment, nor what Diego meant about his little brother. "That little piece of shit is always getting into trouble!"

The alley took a few minutes for them to finally arrive at. Eudora reached for her gun, back against the wall at the entrance before leaning in to survey the commotion. Diego immediately grabbed her shoulders, pulling her up and forward to meet him face to face. His frightened eyes surprised Eudora, and she assumed it was due to the gunfire. He was a civilian, after all, she thought.

"Eudora, _please_ , don't get involved with these people. Let me handle this," he pleaded. Eudora studied his face momentarily to comprehend his words.

"Diego, this is what I do. You're the one who needs to stay put." Diego took a deep breath, eyes still refusing to let go, then slightly shook his head and moved to look inside the alleyway. Eudora leaned over to look as well.

Armed gunmen in masks, she counted around 9 at the moment. More bodies on the ground, and in the middle of everything, where the fight seemed to focus on, was Diego's younger brother. The boy was covered in blood. Slashing a masked gunman's throat with a knife with the skill of a seasoned combatant. Eudora was still attempting to grasp the situation when Diego pulled her back to face him.

"I gotta help my stupid brother, but promise me you'll be careful." Eudora slowly nodded, images of the boy still rattling her mind. Diego dove swiftly into the fight, throwing a knife and actually hitting a target.

Eudora made her move forward, gun ready, keeping the two brothers in her sight. She quickly moved to a gap in the wall and fired a shot towards one of the masked gunmen, but a shield of some sort seemed to have deflected her shot. This caught the attention of several participants of the fight, including both Diego and Five. A gun aimed in her direction, and one of Diego's knives imbedded in the gunman's shoulder, causing the gun to misfire.

But that had been impossible, Eudora thought in bafflement. Because Diego wasn't within any proper angle to make that hit. And was she mistaken, had the knife curved to find its target?

"Eudora, find cover!" She promptly came down in a crouch and scurried beside a small shed for safety.

She watched as the brothers brought down each gunman at lethally dizzying speeds.

A gun aimed towards the boy, Eudora moved out of her cover to fire, but a shield rendered her shot useless once again.

"Watch out!" Eudora yelled at Five in warning as the gun fired towards the boy. But the boy had disappeared in a flash of blue, reappearing behind the gunman, killing with a stab of his knife to the neck.

Realization suddenly dawned on Eudora.

The brothers have powers. Like the Sparrow Academy.

***

"Sir, the knives are too slow to activate the velocity shields. They are getting through."

But Agent Merrick had no interest in the update as he stared at the new figures in disbelief.

_Calculated Reaction Time: .45s_

His grin spread wider, then a deep, booming laugh escaped from his chest, echoing throughout the branch commission base in thunderous waves.

"What do you know, the bitch was right about Number Five," Merrick said, still breathless from his outburst. "His weakness is entirely too easy to exploit."

***

More gunfire, and Five actually found himself flinching at each one as he fought. His anxiety was nearing a dangerous pitch, he realized, but Diego was half-distracted worrying about his lady cop friend and Five couldn't help but worry that Diego was going to get shot at that rate. Because what good would curving bullets be if he wasn't paying attention in the first place?

Five struck a jugular vein with the knife in his right hand, then reached down to grab one of Diego's knives on a body on the ground with his left. But a boot found his head, striking him strong enough to knock him over to his back. Five lost his vision for a moment, but still quickly rolled over to a crouching position. Gripping the knife in his left hand, Five severed a femeral artery, slashing upwards through the abdominal organs to fully incapacitate. He blinked as more blood sprayed on his face as he stood back up.

And then unceremoniously began wobbling on his feet.

The agents were unusually fast and inhumanly strong, so Five made sure to be lethally efficient in his strikes, lest he be easily overpowered if he were to slip up. But unfortunately his mind, Five noted with rising panic, had become foggy and scattered, similarly as it had been the last few days.

Diego stood only a few feet to his right, bringing down another agent with a knife throw, and Five noted at the back of his mind that there were only two left. He had lost sight of one, but the other one... he blinked a few times to orient his thoughts. The other one, was half-hidden in a wall gap, with a gun directly aimed at him.

A knife curved and imbedded in that agent's head.

_Eleven._

"Five!" Diego called out, and Five turned to face his brother. _Eleven_ , the word repeated in Five's mind, an uneasiness in the importance of the number. Diego took a step towards him, concern on his face. "Hey! Are you.." Five gasped at the dreadful sound of a bullet whizzing. Diego suddenly took a sharp, pained intake of breath, eyes wide in dazed alarm, then crouched forward as he placed his hands on his chest, blood suddenly soaking the front of his light-blue shirt.

_No_ , Five's mind cried, and he opened his mouth to give voice to his distress when a woman's voice yelled out the word before him. Her shout snapped Five back to awareness. He had already begun moving towards his brother, but realized neutralizing the threat was priority and scanned for the the remaining agent. Five quickly blinked behind the gunman, readjusted his grips on both knives, blades pointing inward as he crossed his arms, then with a frenzied sideways slash, lacerated both sides of the twelfth agent's neck.

The agent fell, but Five's eyes only saw Diego's body fall to the ground, Eudora just then reaching him. They were close enough that Five ran the few steps to get beside Diego instead of blinking, dropping to his knees, as Eudora dropped down also and pressed her hands down on Diego's chest.

Diego's eyes were flitting closed, his countenance no longer showing pain.

"Diego!" Five called out, grabbing hold of his brother's limp hand with both of his.

"The bullet," Eudora said, hands soaked with blood on top of Diego's chest. "It struck his... his chest." She looked up to meet Five's eyes, both of their faces wet with tears. _His heart_ , Five thought in agonized realization.

"I'm sorry," Five muttered to his brother in quivering breathes, so much misery accompanying the softly spoken words. He reached a trembling hand to touch Diego's cheek, and Diego's eyes flitted open. " _I'm sorry!_ " Five cried out louder, desperate for his guilt and his words to reach his brother. Diego opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came.

His eyes closed back slowly.

His breathing stopped.

The sounds of police sirens floated somewhere in the distance, along with the murmurings of a growing crowd. But the two that knelt in the middle of the alley were not yet prepared to have the world be encroached upon them.

Then realization struck Five in an upsurge of hope.

"I can fix this," he whispered, and when the woman turned to look, there was belief in her eyes. "I can reverse time," Five said to her. Eudora's expression softened at the boy.

"Do it," she said.

Five straightened his back, smearing blood and tears as he wiped his face with his sleeve, and looked around to visually recall their positions earlier. There would be no room for error, his powers would be exhausted after this. He slowly removed his hands from Diego, taking one last look at his brother's lifeless body, then grabbed the knives from the ground. He caught Eudora's eyes and she gave him a nod of encouragement.

Five ran the calculations, hands glowing blue, and began to _pull_ on time. He pushed up and moved towards the gunman's location, forcefully dragging time backwards with each strenuous stride.

He reappeared behind the agent, slashing the neck as he had done before.

In the immediate aftermath, Five struggled to shed the immense anxiety, and he felt the need to search for Diego. He found him standing, alive, _breathing_ , where he had left him earlier. Five moved towards him, a strong desire to close the gap between them. Concern was written on Diego's face in the same way as earlier when he had saved Five from the agent. _The agent_ , Five's mind repeated.

_Eleven._

Sudden panic smashed into Five's chest, and he wildly scanned for the gap in the wall as he made his way closer to his brother. Then a horrid realization that the gun was already aimed at Diego.

"Diego, watch out!" Five warned, using his body to barrel Diego and himself out of the line of fire.

The gun fired, and the brothers went sprawling roughly on the ground in a tangle of limbs, their bodies hitting the wall close by.

"No!" Eudora yelled out, because her view had been unobstructed.

Diego quickly untangled himself from Five, rolled to his knees, gripped his knife and flew it through the air, hitting the intended target through its skull.

Eudora's frenzied yell had shot a fear through Diego, the memory of her bloody body flickered through his mind again. Diego hurriedly got on his feet to make his way towards her, wanting to hold her to assuage his own dread, wanting to protect her in a way that he wasn't able to before. But as they met halfway, he realized that she was frantically motioning to look behind him.

"Your brother! Diego, your brother!" Once Diego was within reach, Eudora hastily pushed on his shoulder to turn him around, and he finally settled his eyes on his brother. Five had managed to stand up, but leaned heavily with a hand on the wall and another against the trash bin. He breathed heavily, eyes open but glazed, face terribly pale.

"Your brother was shot!"


	5. Eudora

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my gosh, I don't care, so much sitting down and talking and plot-dump info here and I just want to get through it lol so here's chapter 5 ahh *covers face in embarrassment*
> 
> Notes: made up science and medical stuff and by googling lol
> 
> Another Note: The overarching plot will not be addressed in this fic lol, there will be a sequel I guess. Even though I might keep dropping plot teases that will not be resolved yet because I can't help myself ugh. This fic will conclude an emotional arc though. ^_^
> 
> Yet another note: Chapter 6 will be released in a few days lol

"Diego, watch out!"

He had to make it in time, because nothing mattered more in that moment. So Five burst forward desperately in his final strides.

"No!" Eudora yelled, frenzied, a haunting echo of the time lost, but the exploding pain in Five's right side signaled a change in the story: he had successfully beaten the bullet there.

The crash to the ground stole Five's breath as Diego's body roughly jostled him, agonizingly pounding his body. Diego hurriedly pushed Five off, and Five curled in on himself on the ground, left hand across his body on the wound, eyes tightly shut in silence save for rattling breathes.

For a moment Five wanted to stay down, for a moment it was better than fighting against the pain, just before he brutally crushed that moment down. _Keep going_ , he demanded of himself, because he had to make sure the gunman was taken down.

And so somehow he was on his feet, clinging to the wall and the trash bin before him. Vision blurry, he breathed and breathed to manage the pain.

"Five!" Diego yelled worriedly. Five's eyes had a flicker of recognition, followed by relief, and he blinked a few times to bring focus to the moment.

"I'm fine," he said, attempting to reassure, but the tremble and weakness of his voice gave the opposite effect.

Diego gently held Five's shoulders, examining him thoroughly with his eyes. "Oh sure!" he said exasperated, finally zeroing in on the source of the blood leaking from Five's right side. "You got shot!"

"Brilliant deduction skills, moron." The sarcasm, though lacking in energy, did help ease Diego's rising concern. And Five took his hands off his supports and placed a hand on his wound. "Just need to get the bullet out and..." but the world spun, "Shit...", and Five fell forward.

Diego quickly encircled his arms around his small brother, "I got you," he reassured, adjusting one arm around his brother's back, his other hand securing the head against his chest. "I got you." And for Five the comfort of the hold was instantly palpable, easing the anguish, and he found himself relaxing in his brother's protective grasp.

Diego's eyes flickered side to side for a moment, deciding on the next step. And Eudora, taking notice of his apprehension, helpfully took charge. "Put him down," she instructed. "We need to put pressure on the wound until help arrives." She could already hear the sounds of police sirens.

Diego nodded and brought Five down slowly, Eudora matching their descent, and he carefully set Five's head down on her lap. Diego quickly took off his jacket, pressing it down on Five's side to stem the blood flow. Eudora didn't comment on the knife holsters over his shirt, adding it instead to her growing _for later_ list.

Five squirmed at the action, caught off guard, the sudden pain bringing him back to awareness.

"What the hell, you idiot," he quarreled weakly, instinctively attempting to push the pressure away with a hand.

"Yeah, just trying to save your life here," Diego replied, focusing on his task.

Eudora took hold of Five's hand. "Hey, hey," she said, trying to calm. "It's alright." Then looked up to a policeman who just entered the scene jogging towards them. "Rodriguez! Civilian shot, young teen, need an ambulance." She turned towards the alley, "And preserve the area...," she began to instruct, then stopped abruptly. The masked gunmen were gone, only the bodies in civilian clothes were left.

***

"You idiot, Diego. we can't go to a hospital," Five breathlessly warned, as he was positioned on the stretcher. The paramedics worked in a rush of well-trained efficiency, which both reassured Diego and stroked his apprehension equally.

"Who's the idiot who got shot?" Diego accused, reaching a hand to grasp Five's as they entered the ambulance, with Eudora following as a shadow.

"You're the idiot who brought - nngh-" the pressure bandage was applied, and Five threw his head slightly back and squeezed on Diego's hand tightly. "-your stupid girlfriend to a gunfight." Diego brought his other hand over, using both his hands to hold Five's.

"Hey, asshole, she's a cop," Diego said, readjusting his grip frequently to continually reassure his brother of his presence. Then looking over to Eudora for help, "Tell him!"

Eudora's forehead crinkled in incredulity, then shook her head slightly, because she didn't think it was the time for a sibling quarrel.

Nevertheless, she was starting to understand the relationship of the two brothers.

***

Eudora stood silently by as lie after uncomfortable lie spilled out of Diego's lips at the emergency room check-in counter.

"Five Harris."

"October 1st, um, he's 13."

"No parents, but I'm his brother. Uh, yes, legal guardian."

"We lost our IDs."

When that formality was over, she noted Diego's continued agitated state, and gently pulled him to the far corner of the waiting room to take a seat.

"I'll get you some water," she said, speaking softly in the same manner as when she would speak with traumatized victims. Upon her return, she found him still clutching his brother's bloody clothes that the paramedics had taken off. At least she knew that his concern for his brother wasn't a lie, no matter how much the two had attempted to conceal it with their bickering on the ambulance.

Eudora recalled how Diego's face had paled when the boy had stopped responding to his insults, and the paramedic had declared that Five was going into shock. She decided to take it slowly with the questioning this morning.

"Hey, I'm going to need to sort out this mess at the office, but I need you to tell me what's going on. Starting with how those masked gunmen disappeared." In truth her starting questions list was a mile long, but thought this was as good as any to start with.

Diego set Five's clothes down on his leg and took the water cup from Eudora's outstretched hand.

"I don't know much about the gunmen, really, they're sort of Five's thing. They're not even supposed to be after us anymore."

Eudora waited patiently from her seat next to Diego, placing a hand on his leg in encouragement. Diego sighed loudly, shutting his eyes momentarily to clear his head before proceeding.

"Five calls them simply as 'The Commission'. I know they're an organization with a lot of resources. I've been at their headquarters, but I didn't stay long enough to see everything. But I thought all their agents were killed." Diego ran a hand over his head, as if expecting longer hair there than his short cut. "Eudora, you wouldn't believe me even if I told you what's going on."

"Try me," she said gently but firmly.

Diego paused to take a sip of water before continuing. "My family, my siblings. There's 6 of us now. We were 7 originally, but one of us died. We were all adopted because we all have powers."

"Your story sounds a lot like the Sparrow Academy," Eudora stated, making the effort to keep an open mind.

Diego nodded. "My real name is Diego Hargreeves." Diego stopped to note Eudora's reaction, but she purposely kept her face blank, keeping her reaction to the last name in check. "We _were_ the Sparrow Academy, but we were called the Umbrella Academy. The Commission had triggered a world ending apocalypse. We escaped by travelling back in time, and then when we travelled back here to 2019, our father had adopted a different set of powered kids. And I guess we lost our existence."

Displaced time travelers, Eudora noted, still fighting against incredulity. She needed numerous questions to be answered before understanding would lead to belief, so she used a topic she already perceived as truth.

"What are you powers?" she asked.

"I can manipulate projectiles."

"Like knives thrown," Eudora said to clarify.

"Yes, like knives thrown," Diego confirmed.

"And your brother can teleport."

"Yes."

"And the rest of your siblings?"

"Luther, super strength, Allison is um, power of suggestion, I guess. Klaus is I see dead people, and Vanya is sound waves." Eudora thought she grasped most of that except for one.

"Sound waves?" she asked.

"I don't know how Vanya's power works, just that she can blow up stuff." She mentally checked off the topic of powers, hoping to recall the information later.

"How did you travel back in time?"

"Five."

"Space _and_ Time manipulation," she said in slight awe. "Your little brother's a little overpowered, isn't he?"

"No, he's so very bad at time travel." Diego laughed a little. "He's actually pretty scared of that power, I think, kind of traumatized by it, and he avoids using it if possible." There's a story there, Eudora thought, adding it to her _for_ _later_ list. "But he comes through when he really needs to."

"Sorry to interrupt detective," a young nurse said, placing a hand on her shoulder, "but there's a call for you." Eudora acknowledged the message and excused herself from Diego.

"Be right back," she said with a soft smile, letting her hand linger for a moment on his leg in comfort before getting up to leave.

Eudora returned a minute later with slight regret on her face. "I have to get to the office, my colleague is not handling this case very calmly," she said.

"Beaman?" Diego asked with a smirk. "He never could keep his anxiety in check." Eudora just smiled, a little amused at his cheekiness.

"How about the rest of your siblings?" she asked, and Diego shook his head.

"No one will be back at the motel until late afternoon or evening, but I'll keep calling just in case someone comes home early." He looked tired, Eudora thought, and her heart felt heavy at having to leave him in this state.

"I'll come over on my lunch break. Tacos sound good?" she asked, and Diego nodded with a warm smile.

***

Agent Reya leaned against the wall, arms crossed tensely in front of her as she watched the meeting between Agent Merrick and a holographic projection of the Doctor from the Bio/Engineering department. Her green eyes narrowed in unconcealed displeasure at the two men.

"... in any case," the Doctor said in his usual cold, monotonous tone that matched his lifeless eyes, "we would like to express once again our appreciation for coming out of retirement and taking our offer. Rest assured, you will be well compensated once The Boy is delivered to us, and of course once you have also successfully set the course towards the destruction of this timeline."

Merrick smirked confidently, and Reya would describe his demeanor as similar to that of an arrogant lawyer or an overly pushy car salesman.

"I have no interest in compensation. Whatever I want I take in this world anyway. But I was told I would be going after a legend, an operative who was recruited after my retirement and actually eclipsed my legacy. It was a fascinating proposition." His light brown eyes glinted hungrily at that last statement, flashing his perfect teeth like a predator. Yes he was traditionally handsome, Reya thought, and his charm could pass off as legitimate to some, but he oozed snake to her. She hated these types of field agents.

"I asked how he had done it," Merrick continued, "and I was told he had super powers. Of course, it made sense that he cheated."

"Yes," the Doctor said, slow and ghostly in speech. "We received the data you sent on The Boy and his brother. It will be most helpful as we upgrade the new combat agents, especially in regards to the velocity shield. We will lower the trigger to accommodate the speed of the knives thrown for future engagements. However, we are quite unhappy with the wasteful engagement of 12 combat agents. You should know that the enhanced agents cannot be mass produced being that the survival rate of enhancement is low." Reya looked away in agitation at that, her square jaw tensing.

"And that's why you need Agent Five, right?" Merrick asked with his uneven smile.

"Yes, we desire to learn more about his DNA, but of equal importance regarding also how his powers work and the extent of his abilities. We believe he is who the opposing party calls The Boy of Time, but we do not know much about his full potential aside from the obvious, and the fact that he is whispered of frequently by the Coexistence organization."

"So, how does it end without my interference?" Merrick asked.

"What do you mean?" the Doctor replied.

"You know, what result am I trying to change? How did it originally play out?"

"We don't know, we cannot see. We can only monitor the main timeline. This is a branched timeline most possibly created by The Boy of Time."

"Huh, I thought we didn't subscribe to the multi-verse theory?" Merrick asked, taking slight interest at this new information.

"We do not. That is why we destroy branches when they occur. Our theory of time cannot explain branch timelines, so they should not exist."

"I'm familiar. _Reversible dynamics with closed time-like curves and freedom of choice_. It means Time itself is fighting against our changes. Maybe branched timelines is just another way that Time is fighting back, don't you think?" Merrick talked as if he loved hearing himself, and he seemed pleased with his deductions on the subject. "But even if you can't see the ending, why don't you just travel to the future of that timeline and see what happens for yourself?"

"Currently, future travel past April 2019 is not possible. You are at the edge of that timeline. There is no future there yet. It is a branch created by an anomaly, so it does not follow any known theories. You have to get to the future the long way, and we don't have the patience to wait a thousand years to see the impact this timeline will have. We just need to trigger an apocalypse and then erase it altogether from existence. First priority is capturing the Boy of Time. But killing Reginald's children from either timeline is acceptable collateral damage."

The holographic image faded away, and Merrick put on his fedora hat in preparation for his recons for the day.

Reya wondered if it would be possible for her to _accidentally_ kill Agent Five during a capture attempt to put an end to all this nonsense.

***

Eudora knocked on the door to announce her arrival before letting herself in the room. Diego had turned his head on his seat to meet her with an affectionate smile.

"Brought lunch, as promised," she said in a whisper, glancing at Diego's sleeping brother on the hospital bed, then placing the bag of tacos on the desk beside the chair. "How long ago since he got out of surgery?" she asked, taking a seat at the chair next to Diego.

Diego opened the bag and distributed the containers, sides, and water bottles on the table. "Just an hour and a half ago," he replied quietly. "The doctor said it went well, but that he needs lots of rest. They want to keep him here for a few days at least."

They enjoyed their lunch together, keeping their conversations in whispers just below the steady beeping of the patient monitors. Eudora noted that Diego seemed to be doing better, his brother getting through surgery and finally on the way to recovery had made Diego much less agitated, though the worry was still evident in the way his smile would disappear and his brows would furrow whenever his gaze would linger a bit too long on his brother.

A soft knock on the door, and the doctor stepped in the room, white lab coat trailing behind slightly. She seemed young, Eudora noted, just a few years older than them, with a kind, maternal face, blond hair pulled up in a relaxed, messy bun. She stood about the same height as Eudora, normal build, but wearing a smile that seemed a little rigid, which signaled that the doctor was troubled about something.

"Detective Patch?" she asked politely. "I'm Doctor Richards," she said reaching a hand to shake in greeting. "May I have a word?"

***

Eudora returned to the room after several minutes, but her demeanor seemed displeased, buzzing with more energy than earlier. Diego stood up from his chair, noticing her flustered state.

"Everything alright?" he asked apprehensively, taking a worried glance at Five on the bed.

"Diego, they're going to call social services," she said, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

"What? Then cover for us," Diego said, coming closer to Eudora in order to whisper-yell without waking Five.

"I can't, it's procedure," she informed him, hands twisting together due to agitation.

"Oh, you and your stupid protocols," Diego said in frustration, voice rising a little too loud. "You always have to go by the book, don't you?"

Eudora gave an angry stare for a few moments, before visibly calming herself by closing her eyes before continuing the conversation. "We were together in the other timeline, but we didn't stay together, did we?" she said, forcing control in her voice. "We weren't compatible because I do things by the book, and you have trouble following rules and authority."

Diego blinked in surprise, being suddenly reminded of how sharp Eudora always was with profiling suspects and piecing together clues. His brilliant Eudora.

"Yes, but you also died when I got you caught up with the Commission," he said angrily, the pain flooding in his eyes at the recalled memory. Eudora took a moment to register this new information and Diego's expression, and connected it to his reaction earlier in the alley. It made sense to her finally, and regretted slightly her hostile aggressiveness. She reached out and took Diego's hand in an attempt to comfort him.

"Look, I tried. I told them Five was caught in a gun fight, and that I knew his older brother and I would take responsibility," she began. "But Diego, your brother has wounds and bruises not from today. I don't have a story to tell them about that," she said in continued frustration. "And to tell you the truth, I'm not that comfortable with the situation either. He has TBI, and from the swelling and focal injuries, they don't believe it happened just today either. They're considering cutting into his skull to relieve the pressure if the swelling gets worse."

"What?" Diego said, alarmed, hand raking over his head, so Eudora made an effort to calm him.

"He's fine for now, they still have to continue monitoring his situation, but the doctor said it's mild and he'll more likely recover within a a couple of weeks with proper bedrest, as long as he doesn't get worse. But the point is, he's 13, and that's alarming no matter how we look at it."

Diego ran his hands over his face in frustration. "He's not 13, damnit." Eudora took a deep inhale, aware of another big puzzle piece she needed to understand.

"Tell me about your brother," Eudora demanded.

Diego paced the room for a moment. "Sit down," he instructed, as they both took their seat by the desk. He rubbed his eyes to clear his mind before proceeding with the story.

"Since we were kids, Five was always the smartest. Genius intellect, actually. It might be connected with his abilities, not sure. He talked a lot about complicated scientific theories that usually went over my head. But from what I could figure, since he could manipulate space, he figured out that it was also possible for him to manipulate time. Or maybe dad figured it out, I don't know. Five said the two concepts were theoretically related." Diego took a sip of water from the water bottle and continued.

"When we were only 13, he wanted to try time traveling. Dad said he wasn't ready, but for a genius, Five always was such stubborn idiot. Always reaching for the next level on everything he did, always had to be the best. He got in a fight with dad about wanting to time travel during breakfast one morning, then he stormed out of the Academy and didn't come back." Diego's eyes gazed over at his sleeping brother before turning back to Eudora.

"We thought he had run away. The team wasn't the same after he left, and then our brother Ben died on a mission." A melancholy ache filled Diego's eyes, and as if to will it away, he closed his eyes for a while. "Dad blamed us. I kind of blamed Five, I think the others did too, you know, because he skipped out on us. I think it was easier to blame someone who wasn't there. Our family basically fell out after that, slowly at first, but none of us were mentally and emotionally there anymore. We just wanted to get out."

"Seventeen years later he popped back at the Academy looking exactly like he did when he left." He motioned over to his brother. "Like that. But he said his consciousness was 58 years old even though his body is 13. Don't worry, it was hard for us to believe, too," Diego said, a short shift away from his storytelling demeanor. "He said he time travelled to the future, into an apocalypse where everyone was dead. He said he spent 45 years there before he finally figured out how to get back home. He kept talking about wanting to stop the apocalypse and save the world."

"But like I told you earlier, we failed, the world was destroyed, but somehow we saved it anyway. And now here we are."

"If the Commission is here, they might still be trying to end the world, but really only Five would know about this. The organization, they travel through time to make sure the course of events lead to an apocalypse, usually by assassinating key people throughout time. I don't know why they're after Five. Well, actually, he used to work for them. They had plucked him out of the apocalypse, and he was apparently their best assassin. But he betrayed the Commission to save the world. I guess that's why they're a little salty."

Eudora took a few moments to process the story. It created a clearer picture for her, but she would need to ask more questions later, she thought. "Your brother sounds like a hero," she said truthfully.

"He's not, he's the biggest asshole you'll ever have the displeasure of knowing. Brace yourself when he wakes up. I mean, you saw a bit of it earlier. If he's like that while bleeding out and dying, wait until he's actually healthy," Diego warned, taking another sip of water. "So yeah, he's not a kid, so don't worry too much about it, and get social services off our backs."

Eudora eyes settled on Five on the bed, resolving the story with the sleeping boy in front of her.

"It's still too much even for an adult, Diego. Just because he's not actually a kid, doesn't mean he's not a human being."

"It's Five, that's just how he is."

"Really? Has it always been like that?"

"Well, no, not when we were kids. I mean, I guess I haven't really spent much time with him since he came back. It's only been a few months," Diego stopped, thinking more carefully. "No, it's probably been less than 3 weeks for Five since the day he came back to the Academy," then rubbing his face, Diego continued, "Well, I just know he's Five, he's my brother. He's stubborn, reckless, with an incredibly infuriating know-it-all attitude, but he's smart, strong and capable, tough as nails, always on the go, with coffee-induced energy coming out of his ears. He'll be back to his old unpleasant self in no time."

Eudora glanced up at the wall clock.

"My lunchbreak's over," she said, sighing. "I have to get back to work, but I'll come back by 4pm. I'll see what I can do about social services from the office. Call me if anything happens before I get back."

***

Five took a deep breath on the hospital bed, and Eudora closed the file that she had been examining in order to observe. It was a shame, she thought, that Diego had just stepped out since he had been waiting worriedly all day. But it was possible that Five would not awaken fully yet, so she sat patiently to see.

Five squinted his eyes open, appearing displeased with the fluorescent lights, and after a moment attempted to bring an arm over to shield his vision. The awareness of the IV stopped his efforts, and he instead shifted his head to the side to survey the room.

"Hey, hi. My name's Eudora Patch," she said gently, hoping not to lose the tranquility. She placed the file on the desk nearby. "Your brother Diego, he'll be right back. He's just getting some food downstairs." The exhaustion was evident on him, and Eudora thought it possible he would simply fall back asleep.

"I remember, the cop," Five said flatly, uninterested in pleasantries, which took Eudora slightly aback.

"Yes, that's right," she said calmly, but slightly worried that the caustic personality that Diego had warned her about would already take hold. "How do you feel?"

Five took another deep breath, assessing his own self. "Drugged," he replied tiredly, then without warning pulled the IV out of his arm.

"Hey, hey!" Eudora said, walking up to the bed as if to placate an aggravated child. But Five was no child, and he resided in a realm that could not be easily grasped.

"I can't be drugged in case they come after me again," he said matter-of-factly, applying pressure to the vein to stop the bleeding. "I'll be killed."

Even through his wearied state, Five stated the words with a determined stare, and Eudora had a glimpse into a world different from her own. A cruel world, unsympathetic, with a life that lived in it far too long, and killed in it for far too long. The tell-tales were there in his eyes, in his demeanor, in his inability to slow down, even when injured. If Diego's report of his brother's extremely unpleasant personality was accurate, then she could already see why he had become that way, and her empathic heart ached for him. It was why his question caught her by surprise.

"How are you and Diego? Any injuries?" He had brought his head down, concentrated on the arm he had been pressing on, so Eudora was unable to read his eyes. But the concern in his voice, even with an attempt at nonchalance, was unmistakable.

"No, we're both fine," she reassured, and noted the soft sigh of relief and the softening of his face at her response. Kindness, compassion, of course, she thought. A person who would try so hard to save the world and his family would of course have those traits. Why had she thought that he wouldn't? And though Diego hadn't said anything about it, his heavy guilt over Five pushing him out of the way and taking the bullet instead was quite obvious. That was love, self-sacrifice.

"Good. Next time stay out of it." Another matter-of-fact statement dressed in a cutting tone, but it was too late, because she had already seen behind the curtain, knew it was rooted in concern.

"Yeah, Diego said I died when I got caught up with the Commission before," Eudora revealed, testing Five's reaction, and found it when Five looked up in slight surprise.

"Diego told you." Eudora simply confirmed with a nod and gave him a soft smile. "And you believed him?" Five asked, then recollected a memory. "Yeah, earlier today too, you easily believed me." Eudora blinked a few times at that, trying to make sense of it. She felt if she couldn't catch the meaning of it at that moment, then she would lose her chance to. But the moment still slipped away.

"I didn't know you," Five continued, "but I remember Diego was about ready to tear my head off after you died. He blamed me for your death."

"No, I don't think so. He blames himself." It began to worry her that the brothers didn't seem to know each other well, and she wondered at the mess of misunderstandings within the family. "He just doesn't know how to handle anger very well." She did find relief regarding the stories matching up, though she didn't really much doubt the veracity of them previously.

"Would you know where my clothes are?" he said, attempting to sit up, then shut his eyes as dizziness came over him. Eudora immediately reached out to steady him.

"You should stay in bed, you're in no condition..." Eudora started, but Five interrupted tersely.

"I'm not a child."

Eudora caught her tongue, and stared momentarily at the boy she was holding up. She hadn't been implying that he was, she thought. Or perhaps, could she truly be that affected by his appearance?

"Yeah, over there," she said instead, motioning her head to a chair in the corner, but thought herself silly as she realized Five still had his eyes closed. "But they're a bloody mess. Literally."

"It's okay, I've found that the dark blazer actually hides blood well." Again, he spoke from that other world. "I don't have anything else right now. I'll wash it later. Could you grab it for me?" Then opening his eyes added a soft, "Please."

It was probably the sincere _please_ at the end, Eudora thought, as she found herself fetching the clothes and handing it to him against her better judgment. Something about these brothers overriding her sensibilities. She helped him unhook the monitors, then turned her back for his privacy when Five began to pull on his shorts under his hospital gown.

"You should consider," she began, treading carefully, "your current physical biology has a lot of influence on you mentally and emotionally as well." She heard the rustling of his hospital gown pause for a moment, and then she continued. "Aside from the obvious hormones that affect adrenal stress and a myriad of moods, you've got chemical imbalances and developments of certain brain synapses still happening, for starters. The full influence your actual physical body is having on you is most likely immeasurably immense." For a while she listened to the soft susurration of his clothes and his labored breathing over the ambient sounds of the unhooked patient monitors, searching for a reaction.

"I'm aware," Five finally said quietly, and Eudora wondered sadly how heavy his burdens were.

Diego's arrival snapped Eudora's thoughts away from the subject, and she met him with a smiling face as he opened the door.

"Hey," Diego greeted, returning her smile. "The sandwich selections at the cafeteria have nothing on our food trucks, but better than starving. If you had told me you're getting off work a little early, I would have had these by the time you got here."

"Diego," Eudora said, surprised he hadn't yet noticed. "Your brother's awake."

***

Lila walked alongside a few headquarters employees in the hallway, blending in with her beige pencil skirt suit and classic nude heels, which she had killed a filing clerk for earlier in the day. (No one would miss the gossip of a woman anyway.)

She slowed to casually lean back against a door in the hallway, trying but failing to suppress a smirk at the effortlessness of her final task of the day. Hands behind her back, she had tried the handle and found it auspiciously unlocked.

Smiling at a few more passersby, she opened the door at the first hallway clearing and spun giddily to enter the office, closing the door behind her. "Oh Howard," she spoke to empty air, taking a key from her breast pocket to open a tall file cabinet in the left corner of the room. "Your carelessness will be the death of you one day." Grabbing the intended file, she whispered a _Thanks, Howard_ before rejoining the hallway populace.

After a smoothly maneuvered veer towards a sparsely occupied sector, Lila found the vacant office space she had stored her backpack in and quickly changed into her all black pants and leather jacket outfit.

Lila looked forward to a proper rest on her own bed. It had been a long day, with sleep eluding her for most of the previous night. Even though she had told Five that no one would be checking on her old house, she still had found herself sleeping too lightly and jumping at every sound the trees and wind made all night.

Checking her watch, she noted she had 6 minutes until she would arrive at 4pm at the edge of the branch timeline, and she used the extra time to organize her items in her bag. She debated whether to have her knife sheathed on her side or already in hand. It would depend on whether or not Five would be there to teleport her out before the Commission unit would appear.

All travelers on the briefcase network are sent to the edge of the branched timeline automatically, not allowing for backwards time travel unless traveling before the divergence point in 1963. This ensured that Lila would have the time it would take for a combat unit to be organized and teleported to her briefcase arrival. She had told Five the edge of the timeline would buy her a minute, but she had meant it as a figure of speech. They would in actuality only have 10-15 seconds to clear away from the arrival area.

A thought occurred to her again to maybe find a gift for Allison tomorrow, as she worried that the feisty sister would still be peeved that she had attempted to rumor her to death back in the 60's. Well, she hoped that Diego or Five would help smooth out any potential family troubles, to reassure them that she was a changed woman.

Being alone had become rather tiring, she thought. It was difficult for her to admit even just in her thoughts (that she wanted a family to finally belong to). (Because the possibility of being disappointed terrified her.)

Lila secured her backpack and grabbed her briefcase. Keeping her knife sheathed, she activated the briefcase to return home.


	6. Lila

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please take note: It usually takes me 3 weeks to update lol, but Chapter 5 was released 3 days ago (01/04/21), so if you're here because you clicked on the latest chapter but haven't been here within the last 3 days, please go back a chapter! I've done that enough times to know what a bad experience it is lol. 
> 
> Just to clarify, this is not a Five/Lila ship. Just want to make absolutely sure no one misconstrues!

Diego peered around Eudora, eyes wide, seeing Five on his feet leaning against the bed and working on buttoning his white shirt which was heavily stained with dried blood. He was a terrible sight, Diego thought, with bandages on his torso, and bruises on nearly all exposed skin.

"What the hell are you doing?" Diego asked with worry, mindlessly dropping the bag of sandwiches on the desk on his way to his brother.

"Look, Diego," Five began, voice soft and low and a little raspy, sounding as exhausted as he looked. "I need you not to stick your head into this. I'll take care of the Commission."

Five's attempt at projecting confidence was largely dampened by the noticeable struggle in the simple task of buttoning his shirt, and Diego watched his actions with irritation.

"Can I at least help?" Diego asked, motioning in annoyance at Five's trembling hands. Five paused before nodding in reluctant affirmation, and Diego turned his grievance towards Eudora, who smiled unperturbed as if there was not a patient just out of surgery planning an escape in front of their eyes. "And I can't believe you, _you_ , are encouraging this? That's not like you at all," Diego complained as he quickly finished buttoning up Five's shirt before grabbing the vest.

"Are we going to be able to stop him, whatever he's doing?" Eudora asked, surprising Diego with her continued amusement.

"No. At least not without knocking him out," Diego replied, momentarily weighing that option as he pulled Five's vest over his head, and impatiently waited as Five pushed through the armholes.

Diego turned to grab the blazer, but a firm hand on his arm made his pause. "I got this, start working on the tie," Eudora said with a smile, eyes glancing back towards Five. Diego's eyes followed Eudora's, finally taking notice how Five leaned back heavily on the bed, eyes closed, the effort up until then apparently wiping out his energy. "We just need to slow down a bit," Eudora said.

He watched as Eudora placed a hand on Five's arm and waited until he nodded for her to proceed. She then patiently assisted Five in shrugging on the jacket, then placed her hands on his arms gently to steady him as he leaned back on the bed. Diego took his cue from Eudora to set a more comfortable pace, feeling slight guilt at his earlier hastiness.

"Just tell me," Diego said to Five, focusing as he measured the length of the tie around his brother's neck. "Are they trying to trigger another apocalypse? Because if that's the case, that concerns me too so I'm gonna have to throw a few knives at this."

"I don't know Diego," Five said with an audible sigh. "But I'll figure it out. I can't do it while I'm stuck here though," he said tiredly.

"Look, I get that you don't want to stay here," Diego said, gripping Five's arms gently as he carefully helped him up on the bed to get started on his socks. Diego patiently supported his body on the bed for a few seconds, waiting on Five to reopen his eyes before continuing. "But you literally just got out of surgery this morning. And they're considering cutting into your skull if the swelling in your brain gets worse. But I'll let you leave here as long as you go to the motel with me so we can all make sure you don't die tonight, alright?"

Diego was able to get a nod of acknowledgement, which he took as a win.

Once he had finished dressing Five, Eudora brought the sandwiches over for them to enjoy. "Thanks babe," Diego said, punctuating his gratitude with a quick kiss on her lips.

From his seat on the bed, Five suddenly began to stir, appearing anxious, catching Diego's attention.

"You okay?" Diego asked, and Five looked up quickly to the clock on the wall. It read 3:57pm.

"I have to go," Five stated, anxiety evident, "I made a promise to someone I have to keep," and began frantically fisting his hands, where his power disappointedly fizzled.

"No, no!" Diego called out, lunging towards his brother, just as Five tried for his power once more and disappeared from the bed.

"That stupid idiot!" Diego yelled, punching the empty bed in frustration.

***

The jump was messy, and Five fell harshly on the ground, the asphalt scratching his knees and elbows, the fall itself jarring his body severely. He teleported as far as he could towards his intended destination, but still came up considerably short, landing in a small, vacant street just across.

Forehead feeling the roughness of the ground, he held a hand on his bandaged mid-section and searched himself for more energy, hoping to use his anxiety at the situation to fuel another jump, but failed at invoking his powers again. Head swimming, he fought for stability and coherence, and forced himself to look up towards the alley.

The crowded main street up ahead obstructed his view, but then the unmistakable blue glow of time travel flashed in the alley beyond the road. So Five dragged himself up hastily using a wall as support. _No_ , he thought in distress, he couldn't be too late.

***

Lila glanced around the empty alley, realizing immediately that she was alone. She felt a crushing weight in her chest that she quickly attempted to push towards insignificance. Because it didn't matter, she thought. She always knew she could only rely on herself, and chastised her heart for opening up to vulnerability.

She reached for her sheathed knife as she began to jog towards the mouth of the alley, seeking the safety of the crowd of strangers over the family she hoped for. She wiped a hand over the tears that threatened to fall, already steeling her heart to coldness, bitterly vowing to return to ruthlessness, to survive this world in the way she always knew how. When she felt the familiar spatial energy emerge behind her.

She turned quickly to look and found Five leaning against the wall, back towards her, and she took the few steps towards him as her heart elated in relief.

"You're late," she stated in a mask of irritation, attempting to downplay the warmth inside her as she faced him. She noticed how heavily he leaned against the wall. And her mind finally processed the visual cues. He wasn't well, very far from well, actually.

"What the hell happened?" she asked, taking in his exhausted state and unfocused eyes, and the dried blood heavily splattered throughout his clothes. The flash of time travel appeared at the corner of her eye, and she quickly hooked her arm around Five's to teleport them out a split second before the Commission Unit materialized.

She brought them on the roof above, on an "L" shaped building structure that housed the stairs below that allowed for cover. The jump had been hasty, both falling uncomfortably on the concrete. She quickly sheathed her knife, pulled off her backpack and sat against the wall. Five released an aggrieved whimper beside her, and she reached over to place a hand over his mouth to muffle, shushing him quietly and wrapping her other arm to pull his body closer.

The extent of the briefcase tracking soon after arrival was unknown to Lila, and the prospect of being tracked to her apartment was too dangerous a risk. She leaned around the structure to view the scuttling of Commission Agents below, and quickly retracted when the camera drones hovered too close to their height.

Lila noticed Five's weak attempts at prying her hand from his mouth, and she released her hand without much thought, still keeping most of her attention to the Commission below until the unit finally left the area.

Looking back towards Five, she noticed he was leaning forward from his sitting position, hands flat on the ground, breathing tiredly. Lila helped him sit back against the wall structure next to her, and he held his head back, eyes closed, body sagged in exhaustion. The situation had become too familiar to Lila. _Thanks for coming for me_ , she thought. "You were supposed to be recovering," she said.

Five opened his eyes tiredly at her. "I had a very bad day," he said, then wearily shifting his gaze back at the rooftops and streets below asked, "How did your trip go?"

Lila opened her backpack, pulling out a stack of files. "Got info on the local Commission base," she gloated giddily, unfolding a map in front of them. "See the jagged building there? Across the Italian deli sandwich shop on 4th Street," she explained, motioning both at city outlines and the corresponding map to orient. "Behind that is an old warehouse. That's where our former coworkers are currently housed."

She watched as a small, satisfied smile came upon Five's lips. "Good job," he commended sincerely. "What else you got?" Lila smirked at the question as she plopped down the pile of paperwork in front of them.

"Let's find out," she said with a playful smile.

They made their way through the files, eagerly sharing their respective discoveries and trading folders in fascinated confirmations. They learned that they weren't in the main timeline but a branched timeline that diverged in 1963. That the Commission cannot monitor this timeline, unable also to travel backwards within in, which was why they had to set up a fully operational branch base.

"The Commission's completely blind," Five said to Lila, and the two exchanged subtle grins.

The leading theory for the branch divergence is Five's time travel ability. And their main goal is to capture Five and destroy the branch with an apocalypse.

"Dammit, they still want an apocalypse," Five said, placing a hand on his head, distress evident. "But what do they want with me?"

"Merrick. I've met this psychopath," Lila informed him, showing the photo. "He was supposedly the best before you came."

The daytime bustle below wound down to the calmer night life as the sun gave way to the serene glow of city lights that stretched out as far as they could see. Five found his eyes lingering on the sight more than a few times, having a curious feeling of security at the image of a world alive. They sat beneath a clear night sky, the moonlight and the glimmer of stars reaching down to light up the rooftop, their figures enveloped in a hazy, luminous glow. 

Dinner was sandwiches from Lila's bookbag as they continued on their research into the night, careful to keep the papers in the folders as the evening breeze blew stronger on the rooftop without obstruction to the airflow.

"Hey, this is your thing," Lila began, sticking her face close to the page. "What does this mean? Reversible dynamics with closed time-like curves and freedom of choice." Still squinting to will her mind to understand the convoluted theory, she realized Five hadn't said much the last few minutes, and at the moment still had not answered her question.

Lila glanced to her left and found him with his eyes tightly shut, back straight and tense against the wall, and hands clenched tightly on his sides. "What's going on with you?"

"I got shot...today," he said between breathes. "Left the hospital and...." he placed a hand on his forehead, beads of sweat forming, "Shit, my head too..."

"Hospital? Let me see," she said, kneeling in front of him. Five opened his eyes and brought his hand down, lifting his shirt to reveal the bandages on his torso. "You were in surgery today?" Five nodded rigidly, as she eyed his hand that went up to his forehead again. "And your head?"

"There's swelling or something," he gestured, "I don't know."

"When was all this?"

"The Commission came after me this morning. I jumped out the hospital at 4pm," Five said, face scrunching in pain.

"The drugs have worn off, then," Lila concluded, collecting the papers and placing them back in her bag, and slipping the backpack on.

_Thank you for coming for me_ , Lila thought. "What a stupid thing to do," she said.

She grasped the briefcase in one hand and Five's arm on the other as she prepared to jump them to her apartment. _Gently_ , she warned herself.

"Just pull on your power, I can mirror it from there," she instructed, his familiar energy second nature to her already.

They landed smoothly and precisely on the sofa as Lila had made the extra effort. Lila grabbed a pair of sweatpants and a white shirt for Five and helped him get out of his bloodied clothes into more comfortable ones, then settled him down to lie on the sofa before she went searching for the ibuprofen in the cupboard.

***

They had searched for nearly 2 hours, driving around the city in Eudora's car as well as scrutinizing streets and alleys by foot. The unfortunate timing of rush hour had made the search difficult, and when Eudora had finally convinced Diego to take a break, she had brought him to her apartment so they could freshen up and have dinner.

"If he's not dead yet when I find him, I'm going to kill him," Diego declared.

"I'll send a description of the masked agents out in the field," Eudora said, setting up the sandwiches on the table. "I'll search around more tomorrow during work hours." It was an attempt to reassure Diego, who had sat down wearily on the couch, disappointed with the lack of success that evening. "They should be within city limits, both your brother and the Commission."

Diego looked up from the sofa at her words. "No, I don't think the Commission would be around anymore," he said, eyes falling to the side, tongue licking his lips. "It would be a waste of time to look for them."

It was a lie, and Eudora would not stand for it. She glared at Diego to communicate her displeasure at the lie, arms crossed tensely in front of her.

"Diego, this case file is already on my desk," she said, determined not to be swept aside. "It's under my jurisdiction. This is mine."

Diego stood from the sofa. "Please," he implored, searching Eudora's eyes for understanding, grasping her arm gently. "Leave the Commission to my family." And Eudora recognized the source of his concern.

"How did I die?" she asked. Diego stared at her for a few moments, eyes reflecting sadness, then headed to the couch to take a seat. He rubbed a hand on his forehead, wondering if this was a good idea or not.

"The Commission, they were hunting Five," he began, exhaling audibly, trying to relax his body. "I didn't know about the Commission, I didn't know how dangerous they were. I tried to convince you to investigate it off the books with me."

"We fought about it, as usual," a sad smile came upon his lips, "but, you know, I could always get you to do things you didn't want to do. And... shit," he said, putting a trembling hand over his forehead, shielding his eyes, fighting to keep his composure. "You found a lead to a motel and you went by yourself. You tried to contact me and you left a message, but I didn't get the message in time." He was crying, Eudora realized, and she sat beside him on the couch, placing a comforting hand on his leg.

"You were already dead when I got there." Diego's body trembled slightly, breathes hitching in an irregular pattern. "Shot in the back through the chest." His eyes gazed on the floor underneath his hand, and Eudora realized he was seeing her. How often does he see her dead body in his mind? she wondered sadly.

Eudora knelt in front of Diego grasping his shoulders. "I'm right here, Diego. Look at me."

"I told you to wait," Diego said, hand still over his eyes, still crying. She pried his hand off his face and held his chin up gently, encouraging him to look at her.

"I'm not dead, I'm okay," she said firmly, holding his sorrowful eyes onto hers. And she wanted to take away that heartbreaking pain, so she leaned in for a kiss. She tasted the sweetness of his mouth with the saltiness of his tears, leaning her body against his, feeling his comfortable warmth as he wrapped his arms around her. When they parted, breathless, Eudora reached down to pull her sweater off, and Diego removed his shirt as well, a hunger for each other taking over.

Motives could never hide from her, eyes could never lie to her. And she knew this man loved her.

***

Allison hung up the phone, an uncomfortable anxiety building up within her.

"What was that about?" Klaus asked from the sofa, the others also looking towards Allison.

"Diego's staying with his girlfriend tonight," Allison said, subconsciously biting her lower lip as she paused. "He said they've been out all night searching for Five. Apparently, the Commission attacked Five this morning and got himself shot, and Diego brought him to the hospital. But when Five woke up in the hospital this afternoon, the idiot blinked out."

"He should be fine if he has the energy to jump, right?" Vanya asked, an attempt at reassurance. Allison placed a hand on her forehead in thought.

"Yeah, but Diego sounded ...really worried."

"Should we go out to look for the little bugger, too?" Klaus asked. Allison shook her head in frustration.

"It's late, we all have an early day tomorrow," Allison said tiredly. "He knows how to take care of himself. If he wants to come home I'm sure he would."

"And if he doesn't want to, then we won't be able to find him." Klaus supplied. "I'm pretty sure he has, like, ghost powers."

Allison huffed out in annoyance, shaking her head with a hand still on her forehead.

"He'll be fine," Luther concluded. "Five knows what he's doing and he'll just turn up when he wants to. And he's always fine."

***

A desperate scream jarred Lila awake on her bed, and she instinctively reached for her gun that sat beside her bedside clock that read 1:05am. _Five_ , she thought, heart pounding in an adrenaline rush. Bolting through her bedroom door to the living room, she quickly flipped the light switch, gun pointed as she scanned the room.

But Five was alone, sitting up on the sofa, appearing frightened and agitated.

_What?_ she thought in confusion. She quickly walked over and laid the gun down on the ground.

"Hey, what that hell is wrong with you?" Five's unfocused eyes darted around the room, but passed through her as if unseeing the actual world, and Lila realized he wasn't awake.

He screamed again, anguished. So she leaned in to grasp Five's shoulders, shaking him roughly.

"Oi, you have to stop yelling or the police will be called on us," she said, but Five merely strung together mumbled words that failed to formed a coherent sentence. Lila found it eerie. "Hey, wake up!" she tried in a stronger command, but his frightened face still could not comprehend.

Lila stood up to pace the room, hand scratching her head, at a loss for what to do. Her eyes stopped on a throw pillow. Maybe muffling him until he woke up would work, she thought as she took hold of it, but when a particularly intense scream came out from Five, she went with a bad idea instead and threw said throw pillow at his head.

Which surprisingly actually worked.

Five's eyes focused, still hyperventilating but improving by the second, gripping the throw pillow on his lap.

Lila rubbed a hand over her sleep-deprived face. "You are the worse flat mate ever!" she complained in exasperation. "Are you okay now?" she asked, not harshly.

"I.." he began, eyes blinking to orient, "Sorry," he said, reaching a hand to his forehead, and complained weakly. "That hurt." 

"Yeah, sorry, you were screaming so damn loud," she said tiredly, rubbing her sleepy eyes. Five's eyes widened in surprise, then looked down after the realization hit him.

Lila huffed back towards her bedroom and took a last look at Five before entering, making sure he laid down before closing her door.

2:19am and it happened again.

Waking Five took a few moments longer than previous, and after it was all over and Lila had slid back to bed, she was thankful that sleep took her quickly for her well deserved rest.

Until the screaming began again at 3:03am. Lila sat up on her bed, hair messily over her eyes as she fumed in annoyance, finally admitting that rest would be withheld from her until she stopped ignoring the problem.

So she slouched down on the sofa behind her screaming roommate and waited patiently for him to come to awareness.

"You're really messed up, aren't you?" she said with a yawn after he had calmed down. Once he had oriented himself, Five turned his body to sit properly next to Lila, wincing at his bandaged wound as he did so. "You weren't like this two nights ago, so what triggered your sleep terrors?" Lila asked, sluggishly pulling her legs up on the couch.

"I dream of my siblings, dead or dying, and the world, dead or dying, as well as the aftermath," Five explained, attempting to rub sleep from his eyes but failing. Weariness settled uninvited amidst the two . "It's basically the same type of thing every time. It's kind of a domino affect, just gets from bad to worse as the nightmare progresses. Incredibly vivid."

"Hm," Lila hummed, hugging her legs and turning her head to place a cheek on her knees towards him. "I asked what triggered it," she repeated, trying to suppress another yawn.

Five stared at the pattern on the throw pillow for moment, gripping it tightly again before responding. "Diego came while I was being attacked by the Commission this morning."

Lila's eyes perked up slightly. "Did something happen to him?" she asked worriedly.

"He's fine, he was the one who brought me to the hospital after I got shot," he reassured.

"But?" Lila asked suspiciously, lifting her head from her knees. "There's a 'but' there, isn't there? Something happened to him."

Five took a deep breath, and Lila held hers. "That was after I forced a do-over," Five said cryptically, looking up to meet Lila's eyes. "I got kicked in the head, and Diego was distracted because he was checking up on me. He died, Lila. He was shot in the heart and died almost immediately." Five closed his eyes for a moment and took time to breath, the process of recollection visibly distressing for him. "So I rewound time, brought him back to life." Five chuckled grimly at that before continuing. "And I killed the gunman that had killed him. But I forgot there were two of them, because I'm an idiot, and the other almost killed him again. I just barely managed to push him out of the way of the bullet." Five chuckled again, and Lila realized it was exhaustion starting to take hold.

"So you took the bullet the second time," Lila stated, resisting the urge to ask about the time rewind at the moment.

"It was my fault, everything was my fault," Five said, hand going up to his forehead.

"Have you always been able to rewind time?" Lila asked finally.

"No, that was only the second time I've done it," Five answered. "I can't do it often because it drains me completely of energy, and I can't jump for at least 8 hours or so, I think." Then heading off the second question, "The first time was at the barn in 1963. The Handler," he looked up towards Lila, realizing he should say his words carefully, "she came in and shot everyone down, killed all my siblings in a bloody massacre, including you," but he had never been any good with being human. "I was on the ground bleeding out, nearly dead, and I pulled on time as hard as I could. I was begging for it to work, whatever it was I was trying to do..." Five laughed, almost deliriously. "And it did."

Lila remembered how it happened, and pieced together when the original events would have taken place.

And she cried.

After all this time, after she thought she had moved past the Handler and the lifetime of lies, it still hurt. The unfairness of everything. She wiped her tears angrily with the palm of her hands, but sobbed harder. Why had fate entrusted a child in the hands of a woman who only used her? Lila had loved a lie, loved her mother truly, because the woman was the only family she knew. Who had killed her in cold blood apparently in a time erased. She once had a family who loved her, and she wondered bitterly why she wasn't allowed to keep that happiness. And why she still didn't have a place to belong to.

Lila looked over to the boy, no the man, sitting beside her. The man who had killed her real family. Five had been quietly staring at the throw pillow on his lap throughout her breakdown. Unable to offer any consolation, Lila thought, because he was incapable. A killer with a cold heart, a monster who had advised her that she wasn't cut out to be an assassin because she took her kills _personally_. As if having feelings was something wholly unacceptable.

"Do you need some water?" he asked gently without looking up. "I'll get you some water." Lila was momentarily startled, and watched Five get up gingerly towards the kitchen. He grabbed the water jug from the fridge and the cup from the cupboard and placed them on the table, then placed a hand on his mid-section and closed his eyes, the other hand supporting himself against the table.

She remembered that he had come for her, straight from surgery apparently.

Five handed her the water without meeting her eyes and sat back down carefully beside her, again wincing in pain. He's been doing that a lot the last few minutes, she thought distantly. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, looking back down on the throw pillow he had placed again on his lap.

Lila drank her water and thought silently for a few minutes. "Why are you here?" she asked after a while, interrupting the silence.

Five took a deep breath and exhaled in resignation. "I'll leave in the morning. Or, just give me a few minutes to get my clothes..." He made to stand up. Lila grabbed his arm, surprising him.

"It was just a question, idiot," she gently reassured, pulling Five back down to sit. "Why are you here instead of with your family?"

He hesitated momentarily, thinking through his answer. "Like you said, I'm messed up right now. I can't protect them, and will just worry them unnecessarily."

Lila felt a twinge of jealousy at his answer. Five loved his family, wanted to keep them safe, wanted to keep them from worrying. So he was here instead with her. Because she wasn't family.

Could she really earn her place one day with his family, or was she just dreaming her impossible dreams again? The thought of Diego, though, warmed her heart. She loved him, and she knew he still loved her from the last moment they had together in the barn. She still had Diego, and it was him who had told her that they could be her family. _If you just let us_ , he had said. She held on to that warm thought, using it to anchor her dream.

Five placed a hand to his wound again and closed his eyes, a small noise in his breath escaping him.

"Take another dose of ibuprofen," she instructed, grabbing the pill bottle from the lampstand beside her.

An assassin's kill was just a job, she remembered how Five had claimed, one of many kills he had made. Nothing personal, he had dismissed. But he had remembered her parents, very clearly. _The flower merchants,_ his face had been aghast at the realization. _They were you parents?_

Lila wondered if he believes the lies he tells himself.

Five wasn't a monster, she had known for a while. It was just easier to still hate him, easier to turn a blind eye to the truth.

Because Five was simply someone who loved his family with everything he had, and had torn space and time to protect them, moved the world to save them. And Lila thought longingly how wonderful it must be to be his family, to be loved so greatly by such a person.

Five wearily looked towards Lila, eyes uncharacteristically troubled, with something to say, but brought his eyes back down instead.

_I forgive you_ , Lila thought. "Let's go back to sleep," she said.

Lila pursed her lips, thinking carefully. "I think I just have to wake you up before your nightmare gets too bad," she concluded.

***

_Five cautiously swung open the door of the motel room, finding his siblings sleeping in the bedroom except for Diego, who sat on the couch looking at the window with the drapes closed. A high pitched humming floated through his ears as he approached his brother slowly, a strange anxiety building in his chest._

_"What are you doing up?" Five asked Diego, hearing the humming grow louder, drowning out his own voice, and he couldn't tell if the sound resided only in his head or not._

_"Do you hear that?" Diego asked without turning his head to look, body posture rigid as he continued to stare towards the window. There was a glow behind the drapes, and Five approached the window to look . "The bomb blew, but it doesn't matter because everyone's already dead," Diego intoned in an ominous voice. And Five knew he should turn around, knew something was wrong with his brother..._

Five was jolted awake by a pain and a weight on his face.

"Wake up, just a nightmare," Lila drawled out, sleeping on her side facing him. She had apparently smacked him in the face, but promptly returned to sleep immediately after, leaving her hand where it was. Five removed the hand from his face and oriented himself to his surroundings. That's right, he remembered, he was on Lila's bed, the room lit by the soft glow of moonlight through the thin window drapes. Lila had grown irritated of running out into the living room every hour and came up with a plan to slap him awake at the first sign of a nightmare before it would escalate into a sleep terror.

He shifted his head to look at the time on the clock on the nightstand, wincing slightly at the uncomfortable ache in his wound. The clock read 4:15am.

Five yawned sleepily, allowing his eyes to droop close, and relaxed into a dreamless sleep for the first time that night, resting peacefully well into the late morning.


	7. Big Sister/Let Everything Burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got super long, so I cut it in half, but then changed my mind and put them back together - hence, the two chapter titles. ^_^
> 
> There's a lot of set-up for the later chapters (and the possible sequel lol), and I just worry that a lot of the story will be skimmed through and everyone will remember only the cliffhanger because it's so long lol. I write in sections, and each section has an information, idea, or emotion that I'm trying to get across, so just take your time and take breaks lol. 
> 
> Thanks for all the comments and the kudos! They give me life!

It was that feeling of waking up in the morning fully rested. Body waking up naturally, not due to an anxiety-fueled biological clock, but because the mind had been whispering encouraging words of _Hey, let’s see what today brings_. And, in this curiosity, eyes opened, and a smile came upon the lips when the sunshine greeted with light brushes of warmth on the cheeks..

Five couldn’t remember the last time he woke up like this. Certainly not in his days as an assassin. Certainly not in the entirety of the 45 years in the apocalypse.

He stretched back his memory as far as it could, and he saw an image of Vanya’s young face, bangs highlighting her gentle brown eyes, long hair recently tucked behind an ear, leaned over his bed delivering a greeting of _Good morning sleepy head, you overslept,_ along with a closed mouth, demure, teasing smile. His mind reached out towards that thought, drawn by the warmth, by a peculiar longing, but it was like grasping vapor, because it was something that was already lost.

And so he let it go.

Five felt his body partially sunk in the softness of the mattress, and the warmth of a light blanket pulled up to his shoulders. The strength of sunlight made him wonder how much of the morning had already passed, and he shifted his head leisurely to check the time. 

10:40am.

The door to the room was closed, but the smell of bacon and toast and coffee snuck in anyway to beckon him to get out of bed.

***

The smell of bacon burning caught Lila’s attention, and she dropped off the orange juice on the table in a rush to return to the stove.

Ah well, she meant to cook it extra crispy, she thought, practicing the dialogue in her head to say to Five later. She began transferring the bacon to a plate, swiping an arm to her forehead to wipe off the sweat from the heat of the pan, when Five walked in from the bedroom.

“Good morning,” Lila greeted cheerfully.

Five glanced around the kitchen and dining area, noticing the table wasn’t set yet, so he made his way towards the kitchen cabinets. 

“Hey,” Five greeted back inattentively.

He walked gingerly still, Lila noted, keeping his weight off his right side, each movement a cautious undertaking.

"I think you're supposed to be resting," Lila chided as she watched Five begin setting the table.

“I’m fine,” Five replied, his favorite words, and Lila shook her head in skepticism.

“Mmhm,” she hummed, giving Five an incredulous look just in time to see him sway lightly on his feet and put a hand to his head. “Mmhm,” she repeated with an eye roll.

Five sighed, taking a glance towards Lila’s backpack in the living room. “We still have a lot to do today.”

"If you don't rest, you're going to end up in the hospital again, and you won't be able to do any work then. You're supposed to be smart, right? Sounds really stupid to me." Lila was learning how to handle Five, and logic seemed the most effective weapon against his stubbornness.

But the mere thought of relaxing was such a forbidden notion for him. "I can't just sit and do nothing," he said.

"Okay, I'll make a deal with you,” Lila said, hands going to her hips. “If you rest until this afternoon, we'll go to the main commission headquarters." Five narrowed his eyes in suspicion of her motives. 

"Okay, fine, there's places I can't get to without teleporting. Even my mum's master's key couldn't open every door. But I know you want to go too. We'll take it easy there, so you won't overexert yourself. But first you need to rest until this afternoon. You can read the rest of the documents, so you'll still be productive. Okay?"

It may also be because the last time she had left him, he ended up getting attacked by the Commission. But that was a thought she kept behind an unconcerned eyebrow raise.

"Okay," he nodded after a short while, and Lila was relieved at how easy that was.

"Now get your scrawny butt in that couch and leave brunch to me," Lila directed, trying to act like the big sister that she was supposed to be.

***

“You're just not going to pass for inconspicuous, no matter what you do,” Lila said, straightening Five's suit and tie, wondering if the boy even looked at a mirror today. “You're just too damn skinny.”

“Yeah, because I plan on chit-chatting at the water cooler,” Five said with an eye roll. “Oh wait, this is supposed to be a stealth operation. We’re not going to be hanging around long enough in one place to be noticed anyway.”

“Well then, what the hell,” Lila said, throwing up her arms, before proceeding to fix her own matching pants suit. “Why bother with clothes at all then. Let’s just walk in there naked.”

“You need to work on your material, it’s falling flat,” Five said, tugging on his tie.

“And you’re an annoying little gremlin,” Lila countered, subconsciously tugging on her own tie after seeing Five pulling on his.

Five gave her a gremlin smile, and Lila flashed an equally cheeky smile herself, both of them simultaneously slipping on their sunglasses and taking a moment to mentally admire their stylish attire.

The two gripped their respective briefcases, fingers ready to activate in unison.

“We look like Hazel and Cha-Cha,” Five noted.

“Shut-up.”

***

“There’s no one in this area, the cleaning people don’t even come here to clean anymore,” Lila informed, gesturing around as they stood in the midst of a large, vacant office area. The untouched dust on the desks, the dimmed lighting, and the uncanny silence gave the impression of a ghost town. They took off their sunglasses, placing them in their respective suit pockets.

She motioned Five towards a window cubicle turned away from the main walkway. It was Lila’s preferred recon base, as evidenced by the chair positioned off to the side and careless trails along the dust around the area. A little home that Lila had made for herself, one of many in various places, Five thought, realizing sadly that Lila had been alone for quite some time.

“I heard that a long time ago when they were playing whack-a-mole with timeline branches popping up left and right that headquarters was so overstaffed and all the office spaces were so crowded that some had to share a cubicle,” Lila continued as they placed their briefcases and Lila’s backpack beneath the desk. “Especially during the D21 branch timeline disaster. Can you believe that? How horrible if you got stuck with a guy who thought showering was optional.”.

“Or someone who talked incessantly and had way too much energy,” Five said, leaning back against the desk, hands pulling back to his sides to hold on to the edge, and Lila eyed the motion carefully. “Yeah, I can imagine, I would rather accidentally gouge my eyes out and collect workers comp than have to go to work.”

“Are you making fun of me?” Lila asked, raising an eyebrow, coming to stand beside him.

“No, that’s just you being paranoid and insecure.” Five closed his eyes and breathed a few times. Lila wasn’t sure if bringing him was now a good idea.

“You didn’t spend much time in the back office, did you?” Lila asked, buying a few more seconds before they had to get started.

“No, I was always out on assignment. I lived in hotel rooms basically my entire tenure here.” Five opened his eyes and stared out the window for a moment, absently examining the trees and the cloudy sky, then straightened himself, a signal for Lila that he was ready.

“Well, just follow my lead,” Lila said, pushing off the desk. “My mum was always busy, and when I wasn’t training with her, I was just running around everywhere here. This place was my playground,” then with a mocking smile said, “Do you need to hold my hand so you don’t get lost, little boy?” Five snorted at the tease, and began walking towards the walk way.

“Now,” Lila continued, “we need to get information about you so we can figure out exactly what Merrick knows and hopefully figure out what he’s planning.” She came up to match Five’s strides. “I’ve seen your general file, but it’s not complete. We need to find out where they store your comprehensive file. And we need to find out everything they know so far about the branch timeline.”

***

The sounds of the busy office life always filled the main hallways, with heels clacking, papers shuffling, pens scribbling and tapping on clipboards, employees scuttling to and fro buzzing with stress.

Five and Lila roamed the halls, confident in belonging, giving a greeting of a nod here and there to some poor random employee to test the limits of their stealthiness, seeing which of them could get the most awkward expression out of the unsuspecting passers by.

Lila was more apt to play that cheeky game, though.

They strutted around a corner, and Lila motioned to a room a few doors away, indicating their arrival at their destination.

The silence in the room had an immediate calming effect, and Five was able to settle his breathing and heartbeat to match the hushed environment.

The Regional Folklore and Mythology file room was one of the smaller and less-trafficked file rooms, but the rows and rows of shelves and file drawers was still an overwhelming sight to those uninitiated with the meticulous filing system used by the Commission. 

Five and Lila walked down the walkway to scan each aisle for any employee they would have to deal with, but only an overworked clerk with apparent social anxiety stood in one of the aisles, startled momentarily by the unexpected arrival of two field operatives. It was not terribly unusual for field operatives to pick up a file that was for some reason not included with their assignment packet, but their visits were infrequent.

“Good day to you, um, sirs,” he stammered in greeting, forcing a gawky smile, before leaning back down to the cart of files and pushing his wire-frame glasses back up his nose.

“Perfect,” Lila said, grinning at Five and doing a subtle little dance of giddiness. Five shook his head at the reaction.

“Great,” Five said slowly, not bothering to hide an eye roll. “That’ll intimidate him alright.” Lila pulled out the gun from her holster, and the clerk jumped and squeaked a high pitched noise at the sight of it. She gave Five a teasing look.

“Oh don’t worry, I’m plenty more intimidating than a little boy playing dress-up,” she said, pointing a gun at the now terrified man. “See?” Lila smirked.

Five snorted and leaned against a row of files, crossing his arms in disinterest. “I’m pretty sure the gun is doing all the intimidating here.”

“Alright, my man, just need to know where we can find the files for the current branched timeline,” Lila said. “And the comprehensive file for Five Hargreeves.”

“Did you say Five Hargreeves?” the man said looking at his two captors back and forth, then settling his eyes on Five. “Oh dear,” he said, eyes wide with realization. “You’re _the_ Number Five!” 

Lila cocked the gun impatiently. “Lo..look,” the man stammered, throwing up both hands, “those files are kept at the Bio/Engineering department,” he informed.

“And where is that?” Five asked.

“Top floor, the entire floor is Bio/Engineering. But you’ll need an executive management keycard to get in.”

“Where can we find executive management personnel?” Lila asked, finding it strange that she never remembered headquarters having a secret top floor.

“Nowhere, not here at least. No one at this headquarters has access to the top floor.”

“But this is the main headquarters.” Lila said.

“Lila,” Five began, growing bored of the exchange, “is worrying about locked doors a thing for us now?”

Lila’s eyes narrowed in thought, then grinned in realization. Five returned the expression in kind, then both turned to give the clerk two identical, unsettling grins.

“How do we get to the top floor?” Lila asked.

***

The three suddenly stiffened at the sound of the door opening, ears latching on to the middle of a conversation. 

“..harder that he’s in high school. They hang out in packs, you know,” a man’s burly voice said as a file cabinet was pulled open.

Lila placed a warning finger on her lips while pointing the gun threateningly at the clerk. They were five aisles away from the door, and hoped the visitors would find their file and leave without noticing.

“Well, his file makes him sound like a nerd, so maybe he doesn’t have many friends,” said another man, his voice contrastingly more refined. There was a sound of a rolodex being rifled through, then the file cabinet closing again. “Aisle 3, section F.”

Five and Lila exchanged composed glances, silent communication to ready themselves. Reaching for the knife in his pocket, Five crouched down as close to the aisle entrance without being seen.

The footsteps came closer, but turned a few aisles before theirs.

“Section F, section F… ah, here it is.”

“Just hurry up, I was really looking forward to a massage at a spa until this assignment showed up.”

“Got it,” the cabinet was pushed closed and footsteps began to recede towards the door. Five and Lila exhaled quietly, relaxing with relief.

“Help!” the clerk yelled, the footsteps stopping and dashing back towards them, and Lila hesitated for a second, but Five quickly jumped up and slashed the clerk’s throat, splashing blood on the cart of files. Lila caught the emptiness in Five’s eyes. It was an unsettling look.

The men were at their location in an instant, and Five lunged out from behind the row of files just before they turned into their aisle, catching the men by surprise.

Five went after the bigger, burlier man, stabbing for the jugular, but the man moved surprisingly quick, and Five missed the vein by an inch, but still managing to embed the knife deeply enough to startle the man to a state of distress. 

Lila went after the smaller man, aiming her gun but quickly getting it kicked away, but was faring well against him in hand-to-hand combat.

Five kicked his man behind the knees, but the man didn’t go down, grabbing Five by his suit and throwing him against the wall, the knife still protruding sickeningly from his neck. Five blinked away and landed a damaging kick to the man’s shin, and he quickly reached for and pulled the knife out of the man’s neck and swiftly slashed the throat clear across. 

Five watched as the big man held his hands on his neck, gurgling as he choked on his own blood.

A shot was fired, and Five turned to find that Lila had reacquired her gun and had shot her man through the head, the sight of brain matter on the floor strangely similar to an unusually messy kill he recalled had been particularly upsetting for him back then.

“Five?” Lila asked carefully. Five looked up, locking eyes with Lila, his countenance still strangely cold. And Lila had the disturbing thought that she was looking upon the man that had murdered her parents.

Five closed his eyes momentarily, fingers pressing his temples. His face softened, and when his eyes reopened, he was back to his usual wearied self with a hint of sadness in his eyes.

“Let’s get rid of the bodies,” he said tiredly, reaching a shaking hand out to the wall to lean against.

“You good?” asked Lila, eyeing him carefully again.

“I’m fine,” Five dismissed as usual. “Let’s just stick them in that closet, that should buy us time until they start to rot.”

***

A graceful _ding_ and a gentle lurch signaled the elevator reaching the top floor. Strangely enough, Five and Lila found themselves staring at the doors several seconds after they had expected it to open. The two former assassins turned to raise an eyebrow at each other before turning back to continue their awkward standoff with the doors.

“Please scan your ID badge to enter,” the doors finally helpfully instructed, a detached, smug female voice. “Otherwise, this elevator will return to the lower floors.”

Five sighed. “Stay low,” he instructed, both crouching down on the floor, and Five grabbed hold of Lila’s arm, jumping them to the other side of the doors.

They appeared in a fairly large, fluorescent lit white room between two rows of desks with no cover. Luckily, the employees in the room were busy clacking away at their keyboards to notice the new arrivals. Computers with impossibly thin, clear glass monitors lined each row of desks, some holographic, the entire room sleek in design, a striking difference from the 50’s motif of the floors below. White and gray colors dominated the non-existent color scheme, with all employees at each desk wearing white lab coats. 

Five and Lila were extremely out of place.

Maintaining their crouched positions, they quickly scuttled behind a desk to hide from view and took a moment to assess their next move.

Their position did not afford much cover, and the stream-lined design of the office allowed for a clear view of the entire room if one was to decide to look up long enough from their monitor and survey the area. Five scanned the room and spotted multiple doors he could jump them through, but worried about not having a line of sight and repeating the predicament they had found themselves in.

An employee walked towards them, and Five and Lila crawled around the desk to avoid his view, but still careful not to be seen by others. 

A tall, lanky man walked past, lab coat trailing, and Five and Lila were in clear view of the man, but luckily he appeared to be too immersed with a thin, clear, glass he held in his hand which his fingers continually tapped and swiped on to notice.

“We can’t stay here,” Five whispered, and Lila nodded in agreement.

The man held up the card attached to a lanyard on a small reader on the wall, and the door slid open with a soft _swoosh_ sound. There was no one else in the room, and Five saw enough to be able to jump them in a hidden position.

“Let’s go,” he said, grabbing Lila’s arm.

Five landed them behind one of the long, white tables pulled away from the white walls. Different types of sleek-looking steel equipment sat on the tabletops, along with a few computer monitors spread throughout.

They could hear the man’s footsteps moving around the room, stopping occasionally from one area to the other, alternatingly tinkering with the equipment and tapping on his hand held monitor.

Five and Lila nodded a signal at each other. Gun drawn, Lila came out from her hiding place, Five staying hidden to watch the door.

“Hi,” she said with a smile, pointing the gun. The man’s eyes widened, but didn’t seem too startled.

“Hello, who might you be?” he said, tone flat and entirely too calm. Five felt something was off, and moved close to the edge of the desk, readying to join in if something were to go wrong.

“Oh, I’m no one important,” Lila said casually. “I’m just looking for information about the current branch timeline and Number Five Hargreeves, and I was told this is where I would find it.”

“The Boy of Time?” Five heard the man take a step towards Lila. “Now this is interesting indeed, Miss No One Important.” The voice was threatening, alarming Five, and so he came out from his hiding place to notify that Lila wasn’t alone.

“Where are the files,” asked Five with a serious tone. The man looked over at the new company, eyes narrowing in interest.

“The file room is through those doors,” he said, pointing to his right at another closed sliding door. “But the paper copies are not the most updated version. The recent current updates are on the Aeternalis network, but you would need a computer with a token access to it.” Five paid no mind to the extra details, just the location of the files they needed.

Five accessed the room using the man’s keycard and rifled through the files quickly, still worrying about Lila in the room with the man. He had three thick files in his arms when he heard a commotion on the other side of the door. He quickly teleported through and was just in time to see Lila’s gun kicked away from her. He dropped the files carelessly on the nearest desk, then reached for his knife teleporting behind the man.

The man caught Five’s arm mid-swing, knocking the knife from his hand, but the distraction left Lila open to deliver a punch to the man’s face. The man stumbled only slightly, but enough for Five to land a kick to the shin, and the man fell over to one of the desks, causing the equipment to fall off noisily, echoing loudly off the walls.

Five and Lila both glanced at the door in apprehension, then glanced at each other in understanding. Lila quickly grabbed her gun and the stack of files from the desk and Five took the man’s arm and Lila’s, teleporting the three of them down to the file room they were at earlier.

**

Five stumbled upon arrival, falling to a knee. The man, quick to recover, landed a kick to his stomach, flipping Five over with the force, and Five cried out in pain.

“No!” Lila yelled, engaging the man in an exchange of punches to draw him away from Five, but the man was physically stronger and faster, pinning Lila against the wall in a matter of seconds. In a flash of blue, Five was instantly on the man’s back, attempting to choke the man to unconsciousness. 

The man released Lila, but threw himself backwards, smashing Five’s body against the wall, snapping Five’s head back and colliding violently. Five’s hold on the man released, and he fell to his knees again, groaning, hands clutching his head.

When the man turned to look, a wooden chair smashed against his head, breaking the wood into pieces, rendering the man unconscious on the floor.

Lila threw away the piece of the chair in her hand and rushed towards Five as he was making to stand, using a hand on the wall as support.

“Five, are you okay?” she asked, placing both hands on his shoulder. Five quickly shoved them away.

“I’m fine,” he said, eyes not making contact, down and away, hands coming down to the side in a show of good condition. Which annoyed Lila.

“Oh for the love of…” Lila barely held her temper. “This isn’t just about you, okay? If I don’t know what’s going on with you, _I_ could get killed!”

Five looked up slowly to meet Lila’s eyes. He swallowed, then brought his hand to his forehead again. “I’m dizzy, and it’s just…” Five closed his eyes and sighed.

“Okay,” Lila said, eying him up and down. “Okay. How about your wound?”

“It’s manageable, if I can get my head to clear up. I just need a few minutes.”

“Alright, let’s sit you down.”

Lila assisted Five in sliding down to the ground against the wall before glancing around the area. The files were scattered everywhere, and an unconscious man laid in the midst of it. Lila sighed and decided the man needed to be tied up first before anything else in case he woke up.

With no rope to be found, Lila improvised with scissors and the man’s lab coat.

_Dammit_ , Lila thought as she watched Five sitting with his head against his knees. This was the complete opposite of them taking it easy.

***

RAT INFESTED. TEMPORARILY CLOSED.

“How does it look?” Lila asked, peeking around her homemade sign.

Five looked up from the files on his lap and nodded his head. “Looks good. Just don’t forget to lock the door just in case.”

After attaching the sign on the door, Lila came to sit beside Five on the floor against the wall, pulling the box of donuts she had stolen from the break room between them.

“We’ll just have to wait for Mr. Suspiciously Strong and Capable for an Office Employee to wake up,” Five said without looking up.

“Hey, by the way,” Lila said, mouth full of a recent bite of donut. “Could you show me how to time travel?” Five looked up at the curious request. This was expected to come someday, he thought, as he placed the files down on his lap.

“Here,” Five said, balling his fists and summoning blue energy. “This is a jump for tomorrow. You complete it similarly like a spatial jump, except you have to calculate the energy output beforehand since you can’t visualize time the way you can with space.”

Lila stared at the energy in his hands, eyes widening in awe. “It’s a different energy altogether,” she said, reaching out to touch the fluctuating blue light.

“It’s temporal energy instead of spatial energy,” Five said, as Lila clenched her hands into fists to mirror it.

“You’d only be able to follow me to tomorrow, though,” Five said, the light disappearing from his hands. “Here’s a jump 1 minute from now.” His fists glowed again, and Lila mirrored it.

“It’s different,” Lila noted, eyes narrowing in contemplation. “It’s different every time?”

“I think so,” Five said. “And the calculations change depending on your position in time, so it’s constantly changing. You could probably get away with mirroring my energy within, say, a few seconds, and you could still follow me. But if you wait longer than that you would have to recalculate the original position variable.”

“So what you’re saying is, I have to learn quantum physics in order to alter your temporal energy?”

Five grabbed a glazed donut. “Forward time-travel calculations aren’t that difficult to do, really. It’s the backwards ones that require you to be a genius like me,” Five said, grinning as he took a bite.

“Oh dear God, it’s your ego that’s causing the brain swelling problem of yours. I figured it out,” Lila said with an eye roll. Five chewed on his donut with a playful smirk. “And what about a time reversal?”

“Hm,” he said thoughtfully. “It’s impossible to show you, because as soon as I pull on the energy, time immediately starts reversing. You won’t even know I’ve done anything. Like, see? I just did it now.”

Lila narrowed her eyes at Five’s dimpled grin. “Did you really?” she asked suspiciously, and when Five merely continued grinning, Lila rolled her eyes again and threw a donut at his mischievous face, which he barely managed to bat away.

What a cheeky little thing he must have been when he was young, Lila thought. And it occurred to her that it was the first glimpse she has had of a personality behind the grouchiness, anxiety, and sadness that usually encompassed his aura.

“Well, it’s a good thing Diego didn’t end up with the time powers,” Lila said with a laugh. “He would never be able to use it, the poor dolt.” Five looked down, expression reverting back to troubled, and Lila had an eerie feeling that she had just been speaking to a ghost of a child.

“And speaking of which,” Lila continued. “I’d like to stop by my flat to shower and change before we see your family. Will Diego be there tonight, you think?” Five hesitated, and Lila thought it strange.

“Yeah, I’m sure he’ll be there,” he said without looking up, and he seemed to have lost interest in carrying on a conversation. Lila wondered if he wasn’t feeling better.

“How’s your head and your wound?” she asked in concern.

“I’m fine,” he replied inattentively, eyes focused on the files on his lap, and somehow it irritated Lila.

“You know, saying that it hurts doesn’t make you any less of a man,” Lila said in exasperation.

“Containment units,” Five said distantly.

“What?” Lila asked.

“They’re building containment units in our branch timeline. Different types. Reinforced, soundproof, spiritual dampener…” Five’s eyes widened. “No,” he said in alarmed realization. He scanned through the page quickly, looking for something. “No.”

“What is it?” Lila asked, taking a peek at the page in his hand.

Five’s face paled. “Five Hargreeves’ weakness,” Five read aloud, voice trembling slightly, “is his family.” Five closed his eyes, taking in rattled breathes.

“It’s okay,” Lila reassured, turning to face him. “It’s okay. I’ll help you. Hey, they won’t get the chance to come after your family.” She placed a hand on his shoulder to help calm him. “We’ll get to them first.”

Five opened his eyes, Lila’s confident presence a comforting sight.

***

“Tell us about branch timelines,” Five demanded, a serious expression on his face. The man smirked, eyes holding no fear of his captors. 

“The briefcase network is meticulously programmed to make sure a branch is not created when making timeline adjustments. The effect should always ripple through the main timeline. But sometimes for reasons we cannot point out, a branch is created. We destroy a branch with an apocalypse, and once it is void of life energy, we can release an oscillation of altered radiant energy that would erase the branch completely from existence.”

“Why?” Five asked. “If you’re in the main timeline, why do you care at all about the branch timelines? Why don’t you just let it be?” He also wanted to know why they had no empathy for human life, but Five suspected the man didn’t know the answer.

“There is a theory that it is possible for the main timeline to be destroyed and replaced by a branch timeline.”

“How?” Lila asked.

“We don’t know how, we don’t even know if the theory is possible. If you want to find out more about branch timeline theories, you would need to ask Reginald Hargreeves.”

“My dad?” Five asked in surprise.

“Your father was sent back in time as an official envoy for the Unification party, though everyone suspects that he is a part of the Coexistence organization. His arrival in the past coincided with a timeline alteration that produced the humans with super abilities, or Reginald’s Children, as we call them." The man gave both of them a knowing look. "We do not know what caused the alteration, and we do not know how these humans came to have these abilities, or what their purpose is.” It was strange, Five thought, how he referred to them as humans, as if he were something different.

“We have attempted to access Reginald’s research in the Academy in one of the previous branched timelines,” the man continued, “but his research file room is impenetrable, protected by an advanced defense energy even after that branch version of him _accidentally_ died.”

“You mean you had killed him,” Five clarified.

“Oh no, Reginald is protected by the Unification Party,” the man said with a revealing grin, communicating the obvious lie. “He is politically untouchable. So his death in that branched timeline must have been accidental.” Five and Lila took a moment to take in the information thus far.

The man chuckled, interrupting the short break of silence. “What’s so funny?” Lila asked.

“You don’t know how to tie a good knot,” the man said, then jumped up with the chair in hand and swung it towards Five, who managed to blink behind him just before it made contact. When the man turned to face Five, Lila put a bullet through the back of his head.

***

“Hey Lila,” Five called over the cubicle divider, “according to this, all briefcase destinations in the branched timeline are indeed tracked. But the Commission didn’t come after my family the day we arrived. Do you think it’s possible they can’t track in the Academy?”

“There’s nothing in there about the Academy?” she asked, coming around the dusty desk as she stuffed both their suits that they had changed out of inside her backpack.

“No,” Five said absently, furrowing his eyebrows at a page and readjusting his sitting position against the desk drawers.

“Well, I guess there’s only one way to find out.” 

Lila began placing the files in her backpack as well and was about to ask for the file on his lap when she noticed he had been staring at a page for quite some time.

Five pulled out the page from the file, his hand trembling and his breathing coming in quick.

“Five? What’s going on?” she asked in concern, but Five didn’t answer immediately.

“Nothing,” he replied after a short while. “Just thinking of what that man said about my father’s file research room being impenetrable.” He folded the page in his hand in quarters, then slipped it in his blazer pocket.

“What’s on that page?” Lila asked, sitting on the floor in front of him. Five swallowed, breaths coming in quicker still.

“Information about briefcase tracking that might come in useful,” he said quietly, his eyes then staring distantly, breathing still too fast. And Lila realized he had started hyperventilating.

“Five,” she called out, grasping his shoulders, but his eyes became unfocused, face frightened, a few whimpers escaping his mouth.

“Shit, this is not the place for you to start screaming, alright?” Lila shook him roughly, because she really did think he might. The vacant office area may be a ghost town, but a scream would still carry to the populated hallways. “Oi, get a hold of yourself!” she said firmly, and thankfully the next moment his eyes focused, breathing starting to get under control, but still looking disoriented.

“Geez, that happens when you’re awake, too?” Lila asked in exasperation, then softened at the sight of Five still shaken, then she realized. “You have PTSD.” She eyed his blazer pocket, then quickly reached to grab the piece of paper. “Let me see.”

Five made to grab it back, but Lila batted his hand away in annoyance and read it. She shook her head and folded the paper again, then threw it back at Five’s lap.

“You idiot,” Lila chided. She took the rest of the file from Five and placed it in her backpack.

“Are you okay?” she asked sincerely, placing the briefcases beside them. Five still looked rattled, still breathing a little hard, still trembling slightly, so Lila wanted to give him a few more minutes. “No rush,” she said, positioning herself to sit beside him.

“So,” Lila said after a while, “we’re going to set the briefcase destination to the Academy.” Five nodded.

“And we’ll wait 15 seconds before I blink us out of there,” he said.

***

Five and Lila appeared out of their briefcase travel in the foyer of the Academy, the same exact location Five and his siblings arrived at just a few days earlier. They turned to face the main living room, where they found two Sparrows sitting on the couches, one with a book in hand and another holding a newspaper. Both staring at the new arrivals with an arched eyebrow.

“Now?” Lila whispered to Five, holding a fake smile to their hosts.

“Just a few more seconds,” Five replied in an equally hushed tone, then looked up matching Lila’s smile.

“Who the hell are you?” asked the one holding a newspaper, a tall, dark, handsome man wearing an unbecoming frown.

“Just, eh, well,” Lila stammered, waving awkwardly.

“Just touring the Academy,” Five supplied confidently, his free hand casually in his shorts pocket, grin wide and fake as plastic.

“Yeah, so what’s the coolest place around here?” Lila asked.

The one holding a book narrowed her eyes, long dark hair and dark eyes, but sporting an unfriendly disposition. “You’re the boy from the other day,” she said with an amused, sinister smirk.

Five and Lila both waved awkwardly in unison, then glanced at each other with uncomfortable smiles.

“Now,” Five said, grabbing hold of Lila’s arm and teleporting them out to the street.

They walked away swiftly while glancing back at the Academy, chuckling at the success of their little mission.

“Well, it’s confirmed,” Five concluded. “The Commission can’t track the briefcase destination if it’s the Academy.”

***

Allison and Klaus sat on the sofa, while Luther had the armchair, all three looking expectantly at a fidgety Vanya standing in front of them.

“So, here’s my plan,” Vanya said, trying to calm her excitement.

“We go back a day before the assassination, being careful not to run into our past selves. We acquire 2 cameras. One we set up across the building from where Lee Harvey Oswald shoots the president, zoomed in on the window. The other, we set up inside the room as a surveillance camera, so we catch him in the act.” Her siblings nodded in perfect unison for her to continue, and she obliged happily.

“After the assassination, we wait for our past selves to leave for the future, then we send the tapes to several tv stations. Once the footage gets aired, our names get cleared and Oswald is arrested for JFK’s murder just like he was supposed to.”

The siblings stared silently in thought for a few moments, before Klaus spoke up.

“I like it,” Klaus said with a smile, clasping his hands in a show of excitement. “Then you all will help me figure out how to save my true love from dying also, alright?”

Allison and Luther exchanged glances momentarily before Allison spoke up. “It sounds like a good plan, it really does. And obviously I have a husband there as well, but we have to take the time to think about it. I’m sure Diego and Five will be against it, and I don’t want to split up our family. Remember, we can make a future here for us, too.” 

Allison took in Vanya’s worried expression, tilting her head slightly and giving her sister a reassuring smile. “We haven’t said no, right? We’ll keep thinking about it, and we’ll talk to Five and Diego when they come back, alright?”

As if on cue, Diego walked in the door with Eudora, with Diego sporting an unusually bashful smile.

“Hey guys, this is my, um friend, Eudora Patch. The detective I’ve told you about.”

Introductions and pleasantries were exchanged, drinks and snacks were offered, and each sibling gave Diego blatant knowing smiles that had him blushing embarrassed grins throughout the conversations. He was very obviously in love.

“So she just believed you?” Allison whispered, both of them stealing a glance at Eudora as she conversed with Klaus on the sofa. Diego nodded with a genuine expression. “I like her,” Allison reassured. Then remembering their conversion earlier, “Vanya needs to talk to you about something, though.”

***

“Hold up,” Diego said. ”Why can’t we just stop Oswald from killing the president?”

“Because it could change the timeline,” Luther said. “Right?”

“Yeah, but we’ve already changed the timeline, why not change it for the better?” Diego argued. “We can be like the opposite of the Commission - we save people instead of assassinate them.”

“We can do that,” Allison said. “But what if that causes the apocalypse?”

“How?” Diego argued again. “We know it was Vanya who would have caused it last time, no offense, Sis.”

“Okay, okay,” Allison said. “We have two choices to think about _if_ we go back to 1963.”

Vanya began to worry slightly, but there was still time to convince her siblings, and she didn't plan on giving up on Sissy and Harlan anytime soon.

***

(A little earlier)

The sounds of afternoon rush hour engulfing the environment had Lila and Five speaking louder and more animated than earlier, each clutching their respective briefcases in one hand and gesturing energetically with the other.

They quickly maneuvered the busy streets as they discussed their new discoveries for the day, with small discussions of what to have for dinner and what small gift items each sibling would like peppered throughout the conversation. Five thought it silly for Lila to bother with gifts, but Lila was strangely adamant about the subject.

They rounded a corner, just coming out of a quiet street, when Lila stopped in her tracks. Five backpedaled, wondering what was going on, until he looked up to see what she had set her eyes on.

It was Diego, back leaning against a pole in front of a coffee shop, passionately kissing Eudora, both his hands holding the sides of her face. They were several yards ahead of them, but close enough to see their expressions clearly. 

When their kiss broke off, Lila’s chest constricted, and she released rattled breathes. She watched as Diego continued caressing the woman’s face, both staring at each other’s eyes, his hand wandering down her body and pulling her closer, both laughing at a conversation meant only for the two of them.

Lila’s hopes and dreams shattered.

Diego was supposed to be hers, his hands were supposed to touch only her. She felt a jealousy so thick that her lungs struggled to take in air, and felt a sadness so heavy that for a moment life held no meaning. Because what else was there for her? she thought disheartened. She turned to face Five, his face downcast and full of guilt.

“Her name’s Eudora,” Five said softly, keeping his eyes on the pavement below. “She was killed by the Commission in the main timeline. She was Diego’s girl.” 

Lila felt the familiar sting of betrayal from a family she loved. And she realized in a moment of painful clarity that she always had nothing in this world, her mind deluded by a daydream of lies of her own making

“You've known all along, you've known about this,” Lila accused softly, tears falling down her cheeks. She saw him look up and hesitate, no doubt trying to weave another deception.

“Lila, I just didn't know how to tell you,” he said, eyes filling with sadness. 

“Stop lying!” she yelled, the pain of betrayal pressing harder into her chest.

“I'm not lying, Lila.”

“How long have you known? How long, Five?” He shook his head and closed his eyes momentarily. He couldn’t even come up with another lie, she thought angrily.

“You knew, you knew he's everything to me! You just kept dangling the prospect that you would help me with Diego, because you knew I would leave if I knew he was already in love with someone else!” She allowed the anger to take control, because she grasped for something to shield her from the pain and sadness.

“I just,” Five began, finding it difficult to express words. “I don't know how to do things like this, and how to comfort people, Lila. I don't know how to be human!” His hand flew to his forehead, quickly shutting his eyes, and he was probably in pain, but Lila in her anger couldn’t care. She wanted him to feel even just a small piece of what he gave her, the agony and despair she was drowning in at the moment.

“I trusted you, I thought you were on my side!” She made to leave, but Five grabbed her arm.

“Lila, please wait, I need your help,” he said, and wasn’t that the wrong thing to say at the moment, Lila thought.

“How stupid am I? I thought of you as my family. I feel like an idiot!” She laughed irrationally. “A big fucking stupid idiot.” She didn’t know if she wanted to yell at or break Five. So she just stood trembling, crying, trying to breath.

“I'm sorry, Lila,” he said, voice pleading.

“Of course you wouldn't think of me the same. Of course.”

“Listen to me, please. I'm sorry.”

“You're just like _her_. How could you do this to me?” she asked, trying to search his eyes to understand, but he couldn’t even hold her gaze. “You knew I wanted.. a family, and you knew... I loved Diego.” She sobbed so hard that she had to force the words between breathes. “And you used those... to play me. So I would... help you protect... your precious family. Because nothing else matters to you, right Five?” 

But she had known, she had always known, and she felt anger for allowing herself to believe.

“No, that's not true.” And she hated the lies that came out of his mouth now. She wished he could at least spare her of them and just say what both of them knew as truth.

“You would let everything else _burn_ to protect THEM.” She wiped her tears angrily. “Even me.”

Lila wiped her arm across her eyes one more time and composed herself, trying to harden her heart, and she let her words come out as bitterly as she could. “I don't want to _ever_ see you or your family again.”

***

The occupants of the room were scattered around the small motel living room when Five emerged in a flash of blue beside the small table. He appeared over-caffeinated, as usual, buzzing with nervous energy like the world was about to end in a few days. Typical Five, they all thought. 

Except for Eudora, who tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at Five in concerned observation.

“I need everyone to move to a different motel, further away from the city,” Five began, speaking quickly, agitation clear in body language.

The siblings sighed in unison. “Oh, here we go again,” Allison said with an eyeroll.

Five ignored Allison and continued. “No one leaves there until you hear from me, understand?”

“Five,” Eudora said with a questioning tone, finally speaking up, “are you okay?”

Diego gestured dismissively with his hands towards Eudora. “I told you, didn’t I?” Diego whispered. “That he would be back to his old, unpleasant self soon enough.”

“I’m fine,” Five said irritatedly, which angered Diego.

“Yeah, that’s great, you’re fine, I see that,” Diego began. “Do you know how long Eudora and I searched for you yesterday after you jumped out of the hospital?”

“I can’t be responsible for every idiotic choice you make in life, Diego,” Five said, growing frustrated, then turned towards his siblings. “Did everyone hear what I said? Start packing. The Commission is going to come after you.”

“See?” Diego whispered to Eudora again, gesturing towards Five. “Asshole.”

“No, Five,” Allison said firmly, crossing her arms, straightening her body with authority. “We don’t have a car yet, and we all have jobs in the city. We’re looking at a house to move into, but it will be within city limits. We’ve all worked hard this past week to start carving out a life for us here. We are trying to make our own future, make our own happiness, making our hopes and dreams come true ourselves because they were taken from us.” The last words struck a pang of guilt into Five, because he recognized it as accusatory. 

Allison narrowed her eyes, determined to stand her ground. “Do YOU understand, Five?”

Five closed his eyes momentarily and pressed his fingers on his temples. “Look, the Commission is planning on using you to get to me, and then they’ll continue with their world ending plans. None of your stupid dreams and plans are going to matter if you're all dead!” 

He breathed deeply and flattened his palm on his forehead, then continued with forced calmness. “I have to find out what the Commission's plan is. If you don’t want to leave, fine, but I need all of you to stay put here until I get the information I need. Is that clear?”

“How’s your head, Five?” Eudora asked in concern, breaking the tension.

“Irrelevant,” he answered dismissively, placing his hand back down to his side and keeping his eyes on Allison, who seemed to be the new Number One in the family.

“If the Commission is after us, then that’s our business too, so we need to be in on this plan of yours,” Luther demanded.

Vanya and Klaus exchanged looks on the couch, then moved closer together, allowing the more aggressive siblings to verbally duke it out in the meantime. Vanya hoped, though, that Five would listen for once so she would have a chance to talk to him about their plan to return to 1963.

“Did you even hear me, Luther?” Five asked, hands gesturing in frustration. “The Commission is planning on using all of you to get to me! How many times do I have to say it?”

“Five, you’re the one who’s not listening,” Allison said again. “We are a family. You have to stop running off by yourself. And you have to stop thinking that you know what’s best for us, because you have no interest in actually listening to what we want and what will make us happy. And believe it or not, we do worry about you when you run off. So this is what’s going to happen,” Allison said, flipping her hair and placing her hands on her hips. “You are going to stay put right now and listen to what Vanya has to say.” 

The occupants in the room all turned to look at Vanya on the couch. Klaus wrapped an arm around her shoulder as he noticed that Vanya nearly shrunk back at the attention

Five’s anger and frustration rose immediately, his hand going up to his head once more as the throbbing became almost unbearable. “Is this about the stupid briefcase again? I’ve already told you…” Five stopped, closing his eyes, holding back a wince of pain. “I’m leaving,” he announced instead in finality.

“You’re staying,” Allison challenged. The two stared at each other for several seconds before Five scoffed. Allison’s eyes narrowed in determination.

“I heard a rumor…” A blue flash, and Five was gone.

The room immediately erupted in frustration.

“Oh yeah, Allison, because trying to rumor him has always worked,” Diego said sarcastically, grabbing a water bottle from the table.

“What else was she supposed to do?” Luther said angrily. “No one has ever come up with a way to reign in the stubborn bastard.”

“I think next time we should lure Five in with coffee night,” Klaus helpfully suggested, pulling his legs up to sit cross-legged on the couch. “You know, we can have a coffee bar set up with rock sugar stirrers, different flavored creamers, chocolate pieces, whipped cream, and marshmallows.” Klaus motioned at the imaginary items in front of him with his hands. ”He likes marshmallows. And then maybe we can read poetry to calm him down.”

The siblings gave Klaus incredulous stares.

“Okay, first off,” Allison began after a few seconds, “Five takes his coffee black.”

“And second,” Diego interrupted, “that’s a stupid idea.”

Klaus looked at Vanya, both shrugging their shoulders in resignation.

“Look, I’m just…,” Allison said, taking a deep breath. “it’s just getting tiring having to put all our lives on hold waiting on Five to approve everything we have to do first.”

“I thought you said we need to forge our own futures,” Vanya finally spoke up, then glancing at Klaus for reassurance, with Klaus eagerly giving a thumbs up for encouragement.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s not my place,” Eudora said, leaning her back against the wall separating the bedroom and living room. “But it sounds like Five’s just a little overprotective of you.”

“No, you don’t know Five,” Luther said, scoffing slightly. “He’s a know-it-all, thinks he’s always right and everyone should always do what he says because no one is as smart as him.” Luther shook his head in frustration at the thought. 

“Well, for me, from what I can read, his only motivation in his actions is to protect his family. And worryingly, he doesn’t exhibit the same concern towards himself. Or am I reading this all wrong?” asked Eudora, although she was confident in her assessment.

“She’s really good at profiling serial killers,” Diego said with a proud grin.

“And our Fivey certainly fits the bill,” Klaus said.

Allison sighed. “He’s actually not all there.” Eudora gave a questioning look, so Allison continued. “You know.” Allison circled a finger around her temple and whistled. “He’s a little, a lot paranoid and constantly anxious.”

“Our little psycho,” Klaus said with another grin. “World ending scenarios is his high, he craves it and looks for signs of it everywhere he can.” Eudora looked towards Diego, and he shook his head dismissively signaling to her to just accept it.

“Anyway, all you need to be aware of is he’s an asshole to everybody. And he’s always been like that,” Diego said, taking a sip from his water bottle.

“Well, not always,” Vanya added.

“Oh, except to Vanya.” Luther clarified. “Vanya’s his favorite.”

The siblings shifted their conversations to other subjects, and Eudora excused herself to use the phone. “I need to check in with my colleague,” she explained.

Eudora returned a few minutes later with news. “My colleague is asking me to come back to the office. Some new information about my case. And also,” she said, looking around at the siblings, “we received an anonymous tip about where the Commission base could be.”

The siblings looked at each other in surprise. “Let’s all take a field trip tonight, then,” Luther announced.

***

The night air was a soothing coolness, but Five’s head and his wound burned with uncomfortable pain so he failed to take notice. Sufficient amount of panic had settled in his chest that he maneuvered through pedestrians like a drunken man, unable to see past the current objectives in his head.

He had scouted the perimeter of the motel after his siblings had refused to leave, attempted but failed to find Lila at her apartment and around the block, stashed the briefcase in a shed on the rooftop, and acquired another knife after losing the one at Commission headquarters. Next on his list was to find a gun, although he noted that it would be useless against the Combat Unit’s shields.

Five crashed into another woman on the sidewalk and groaned quietly as his wound jarred painfully. He brushed aside the woman and moved past without taking a second look, ignoring the irritation aimed towards him. Because everything else was irrelevant. 

All that mattered was taking down the branch Commission base before they came after his family.

He looked up from his thoughts to find the street he was looking for when he spotted the man in the blue suit and fedora hat from the other day - the one out of his own time. The man named Merrick. 

Five stopped in his tracks, calmed his breathing, extended his senses to his environment, and watched the man carefully

Merrick leaned casually against a building wall a few yards in front of Five, spotlighted by the brightest streetlamp on the block as if the spot was picked specifically for the effect. Fingers touching the tip of his hat, he stared at Five with an amused, arrogant, uneven grin.

An unkempt little girl with disheveled pigtails walked by alone, and Merrick offered a lollipop from his pocket and leaned down to whisper in her ear.

“It’s for you,” the dirty little girl said to Five with a smile, handing him an envelope, then skipping away with the lollipop in her hand. Five looked up but found an empty lit space where Merrick had been.

Five studied the small, brown envelope with foreboding fear and unsettling curiosity. His breath hitched and a sound escaped his mouth as he pulled out 5 black and white pictures. He stumbled to lean on a wall on his side as his chest constricted painfully, placing a hand over his eyes, energy leaving his body in despair.

Because he couldn’t tell by the pictures whether his siblings were dead or unconscious.


	8. Secondary

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved how so many guessed what was coming lol. I guess that means the plot was pretty predictable. :) Although I think some thought it was going to go bigger, seeing how it could have perfectly set it up, but I had to keep it simple lol because there's not enough chapters left to deal with a big fallout and there's still so much emotional ground to cover. ^_^
> 
> Also, I actually don't like thinking about Five in the apocalypse, too sad, and if you've noticed I've weaseled out of writing it whenever it came up in the story. So this chapter is baby steps. ^_^
> 
> Thank you all sincerely for reading and supporting this little fic, for the love and for the encouragements. :)
> 
> (By the way, I heard a rumor that the next chapter is already halfway done ^_-)

Five stood in the darkness across the street from the abandoned warehouse that housed the branch Commission base. During the day, the warehouse appeared run down, standing unassuming in a quiet area of the city. But once night would fall, the moonlight struggled to touch the building, the murky orange glow of old street lights too dull to pierce the surrounding darkness. The boarded windows grinned like a cheshire, the silhouette of the shadowy fortress menacing in the midst of the darkened street.

Five’s wound burned a scalding heat, and his head throbbed unbearingly, but he held onto the pain because it helped in dissipating the fog in his mind. The distressed energy rolling through his body was making coherence difficult to achieve as well. Five took a minute to calm the panic that had gripped him for the past half hour, attempting to breathe the night air in a steady rhythm. 

He was scared.

Because this was his family at stake. This was everything.

His mind was always his greatest advantage, and he couldn’t allow his ability to analyze situations to be compromised. So he pushed down the fright, the uneasiness, the uncertainty, anything at all that made him human. He clenched his fists to bear the physical pain, and glared fiercely at his family’s prison. 

A large, unfinished steel awning hung over the entrance, like an outstretched hand beckoning him to come. And so he accepted the invite, opening a rip in space to cross the distance.

Was this a trap? Of course, his mind answered as he stood in front of the entrance, a rolling overhead steel door.

How did they get his siblings? Irrelevant question, he dismissed. 

Are they still alive? Irrelevant question at the moment, he tried to dismiss again. 

But his heartbeat quickened, his breath rattled, and something heavy threatened to settle in his chest to weigh his body down. 

_ Please _ , he pleaded with his heart, breathing deeply.  _ Make it stop mattering.  _ Because it was too heavy for him to bear. _ It’s just as simple as making everything stop mattering. _

Time was moving forward, tugging gently on Five as it slipped by, reminding him of the urgency. So Five clutched at his chest to calm his heart, and with reluctant acceptance, dragged the heaviness with him as he readied to jump inside.

The air hissed above, and his vision began to blur, his legs losing its ability to stand. He came down on his hands in a daze, “Shit…”, then blinked inside the building on one knee.

Poison gas, his thoughts supplied as he lifted his head to scan his surroundings, urgently blinking away the haze that began clouding his mind. The entryway was unguarded, a door up ahead leading to the main warehouse area, and two corridors to the left and right.

The sounds of shuffling boots echoed off the old, stone walls, and Five shook his head to grasp for focus. He blinked above to the open second floor walkways that overlooked the ground floor. 

Crawling slowly from the open space, he pulled himself to a sitting position against the wall and waited for the Commission soldiers below to leave.

Was this how they got his siblings, he wondered. He only inhaled a small amount of the poison, would it be lethal in a larger dose? He cradled his head in his hands, sluggishness enticing him to rest, so he instead pushed himself to stand and dragged himself to the edge of the second floor walkway to assess his next move. 

***

Five peered around the corner of the corridor, seeing three masked soldiers with guns standing on guard, one stationed every 5 rooms or so. The aroma of food drifted through the hallway, which meant the large, open room was probably the mess hall. Towards the end of the corridor were smaller, identically sized rooms, the doors closer together. Sleeping quarters perhaps, Five deduced.

If most of the Commission work was being done in the middle of the warehouse, then the larger rooms might be the ones that contain his siblings.

Five pulled back and placed his head against the wall to steal a moment of rest, closing his eyes, trying to gather more strength. Knife in hand, he then teleported blindly inside the first of the larger rooms.

He stumbled as he reappeared, taking a few unsteady steps before regaining his balance. 

A gun fired, the familiar agony of a bullet wound viciously tore through his shoulder. 

Tenaciously holding onto focus, Five brought his eyes up to the two gas-masked soldiers in the room and quickly teleported behind them, finding a jugular vein then stabbing the other in the chest, swiftly taking down his enemies.

Five fell to his knees, clutching his bloody right shoulder, dizzy with the pain or the lingering effects of the gas, he wasn’t sure.

He turned his head, behind him Luther laid on his back inside what appeared to be an energy field containment unit. Five stood up in a rush, but the dizziness overcame him, hands reaching out to empty air for something to grab on to. He whimpered as he fell face down, right shoulder jarring painfully. 

He took comfort in the coolness of the cement floor, taking a few seconds to calm himself as he stared eye level at Luther’s unconscious body. His left hand still held his right shoulder, blood already soaking his blazer. 

Once more, Rest attempted to entice him with promises of relief, so Five growled angrily at it, and defiantly pushed himself back up to stand, slowly this time.

He couldn’t risk blinking inside the unit, for fear the energy field could be designed to keep him from escaping as well. A large red button high up on the wall beside the containment unit caught Five’s eye, and he pulled one of the chairs in the room to stand on to press it.

The energy field disappeared, and Five came down on his knees to check on his brother, sighing in relief when he found a pulse. 

He felt uneasy being in the containment area, so he began dragging Luther away from it. The effort pulled on Five’s new injury, and he had to stop a few times to clutch his shoulder and give time to breathe through the pain.

He dragged Luther to the side of the door, out of immediate direct sight in case a guard would come to check on the room, and then pulled his brother’s head to rest on his lap. Just a moment, Five thought, placing a hand behind his brother’s head and another on the chest. Just a quick moment for him to figure out what to do.

“Remember the day I found you, Luther?” Five asked tiredly, resting his head against the wall. “You were so heavy. It took me a while to get all the rubble off, then dragging you out took so damn long.” Five chuckled slightly, remembering a world of dancing flames and confetti of ash, where a boy had collapsed in grief-stricken despair on his brother’s corpse that day. 

“I had to fight for every inch,” Five continued, a distant tone in his voice, and he could still feel the heat on his skin and the dryness in his lungs.

“We had a lot of good conversations throughout the years, didn’t we?” Conversations that had brought comfort in the desolate land, the silly arguments he and his siblings would have, with Dolores usually expressing her exasperation every time.

Five smiled at the comforting memory.

In the early years of the apocalypse where the land remained barren, sometimes a small flower would grow through the cracks in the ground. It had most likely been weeds, Five thought, something despised when life on earth was plentiful. But for him it was a treasured sight, small whispered reassurances from earth that he wasn’t alone in his fight to survive.

He would always pick it when he would see one, placing the gift lovingly in his pocket.

No matter how far from the Academy he had become in his travels to scavenge for food, he would always return with the little flowers to place on his family’s graves. And there he would have wonderful conversations with his siblings, usually full of vibrant and fun recollections. Sometimes Vanya would play the violin, at times Allison would sing.

But there were other moments, when food would get too scarce, when the world would get too quiet, when forever felt too long. When Five needed to let go, and his family would listen and give soothing encouragements. And Dolores would sit silently, watching with sad eyes as he anguished by the burial grounds, allowing his siblings to bring him the comfort instead of her, knowing how much he needed his family in those times.

“Do you remember?” he asked his brother softly, as around them the fires morbidly celebrated their conquest of the world.

The times he would fall to his knees in front of their graves repeatedly apologizing for leaving. When he would curl in on himself on the dirt mound begging for their comfort, and the cherished feeling when they always held him tight.

When he would plead for them to stay with him, to be there when he woke up. But they never would stay, and he would always wake up alone. And that was when Dolores would step in with her soothing words and consoling touches before they would set out again on their never-ending journey for survival.

The awareness of the rise and fall of Luther’s chest beneath his hand caught Five’s attention, tilting his head curiously at his brother’s bloody corpse. And the dull, smoky skies disappeared, the flames around him extinguished, the rubble morphing into stone walls.

Five breaths quickened as confusion gave way to distress, feeling the steady thumping of life in Luther’s chest, realizing the blood on his brother was actually his own. He grounded himself in the swirl of relief and panic, reminding himself that he still had 4 more siblings to save.

He didn’t want to leave Luther in the room, but carrying him would be impossible. He would need to teleport him back to the motel room. Jumping two people in that distance would take a toll on his already wearied body, but no other choice presented itself.

And so Five held his brother tight, gritted his teeth, and pushed both of them strenuously through space.

They appeared on the floor in the motel living room, Five panting heavily from the strain. He checked Luther’s pulse once again before moving out from beneath him.

“I need to get the rest of our siblings,” Five said, a reassuring hand on Luther’s arm. “I’ll be back to make sure you’re okay, I promise.”

***

Five coughed through the ache in his throat, wheezing through his bruised neck as he repositioned Diego’s head on his lap. One of the guards managed to land a hard elbow strike to his throat before he managed to bring them down.

“I hurt her, Diego,” he said, voice still raspy. “I couldn’t fix it. I don’t know how.”

He cleared his throat a few times before continuing. “Things I touch tend to crumble. I’m not like you, I don’t know how to take care of people’s hearts. It’s amazing, you know, how easily you can love. That’s why you’re easily loved back in return.” Five lowered his gaze in contemplation, feeling a heaviness in his chest.

“I don’t know how to do that.”

Would his siblings be scared of him if they knew he was no longer human, he wondered.

But somehow, he thought in hesitant acceptance, they probably already knew.

Five checked for a pulse one more time before closing his eyes, making sure he had rested enough before teleporting with Diego back to the motel.

***

“Allie, I’m messing up really bad. You’re doing such a good job taking care of everyone.” Five said distantly. “I feel like I’m playing tug-of-war with the universe for your lives, and I keep losing.” 

He brought his hand down slowly and distractedly checked for her pulse again. “You keep slipping through my fingers, and I’m scared that I’m not strong enough to hold on.”

“I need help,” he said quietly, absent-mindedly pushing the hair from his sister’s face.

_ You’re doing great. Just keep running, keep going, don’t stop! _

“Where am I going, Allie?” he asked, voice still far-away.

_ Home, Five. You’re trying to get home. _

“I can’t find it. I’ve been running for so long and I still can’t find it.”

_ You’re okay, Five. Just keep running, you’ll find it soon. _

He simply nodded, acknowledging the answer, because he didn’t want her to know how tired he had become of running, didn’t want her worrying. 

***

“Did Ben say anything about me? Just wondering. I never had the opportunity to ask you.” 

Five leaned back against the wall, eyes closed, trying to will away the terrible pounding in his head before the next long-distance jump with another unconscious sibling.

“Was he also mad at me for leaving?” he asked quietly, swallowing nervously. “Did he blame me for his death, too?” A deep sadness came upon him, realizing he didn’t want the truth said out loud after all, so he quickly changed the subject before his brother could answer.

“You’re doing well taking care of Vanya. I’ve noticed, don’t think I haven’t.” Five opened his eyes, but the light in the room sent a sharp pain in his head. He brought his hand up from Klaus’ chest to place on his forehead, taking a deep breath. “She’s a good listener, like Ben, if you ever need someone to talk to. She can help, you know, with what you’ve been through.”

He was so lucky to have kind siblings, he thought. Such treasures they were to him.

“I haven’t had the time, so thank you, Klaus, really, for watching over her.”

***

Five blindly jumped inside the main warehouse area, keeping low and close to the corner of the room. Vanya wasn’t in any of the rooms in the corridors, and leaving without searching every inch of the warehouse until he found his sister was not an idea he would entertain.

The immediate area by the door was surprisingly unguarded. Dividing walls about 6 feet tall had been set up throughout the warehouse, creating multiple rooms and offices. Lighting had been installed throughout the area as well, but the stone walls absorbed most of the light and the sheer amount of space extending high above still kept the area dimly lit. Numerous voices, the sounds of machinery, and beeping consoles drifted aimlessly above the walls, evidence of a fully operational base.

Five wasted no time blinking in the different rooms, keeping himself hidden in the darkened corners. On his third try, he found his sister unconscious in a containment unit in a large divided area with only two soldiers guarding. He would have to bring them down before they could fire a shot in order not to attract any unwanted attention, he decided.

***

_ “It’s nothing,” Five reassured, Vanya’s kind, young eyes beneath her straight bangs filling with worry. Gentle, calloused fingers tenderly held his injured wrist, checking the darkening bruise, and a troubled feeling settled in Five’s stomach at the sight of her concerned face. “You should have seen the other guy,” he enthusiastically added, straightening his sitting position on his bed, beaming his brash, cocky smile. _

_ Vanya brought up her troubled eyes to meet his, tucking her long, silky hair behind her right ear, then calmly placing the soothing hand back on his wrist. She sighed softly, lips pursing slightly. Five thought a change in subject would help in easing her concern. _

_ “It’s a crime ring,” he informed eagerly. She turned his wrist slowly to check on the injury once more, but her eyes had brightened at the new information, encouraging Five to continue. “They’re from the same organization as the museum heist we foiled 2 weeks ago, I think they were expecting us.” But a new worry came upon her sweet face, mixing with subtle anxiety. _

_ “Do you think the organization would attack us here at the Academy?” she asked quietly. Five bounced closer, roughly shaking the bed they sat upon, disturbing the comfortable tranquility, because he was always the storm to her gentle breeze.  _

_ “Don’t worry, Vanya,” he pronounced assuredly, a fearless smirk on his lips, strongly placing his other hand on top of hers. “I’ll protect you.”  _

_ Her grateful smile lit up his room brighter than the sun ever could. _

Five woke up, immediately clutching his shoulder as he moaned in pain. He had passed out in the far corner of the room while waiting to regain his energy for another long-distance jump with Vanya unconscious on his lap. He checked on her pulse again, finding it still worryingly too light. Vanya was small, and inhaling as much poison gas as his other siblings would have had a worse effect on her.

He wasn’t sure how long he was out, but luckily not long enough for someone to check on them.

“Don’t worry, Vanya,” he said tiredly, reaching out a bloody hand to hold his sister’s, echoing a precious memory from a dream. “I’ll protect you.”

***

Two guards entered the room, and Five searched himself trying to determine if he had enough energy to jump two people away. A failed or a missed jump could leave him completely wiped out of energy and vulnerable in the enemy base, and he couldn’t physically carry Vanya, meaning he would not be able to sneak around and hide until he could recharge. His best option would be to take down the two guards as quickly as possible. 

He laid Vanya’s head down gently from his lap to the ground. The room was large, containing numerous consoles, and he had positioned them in the dark corner slightly behind a jutted monitoring terminal so they would not be easily seen at first glance in the room.

The two guards had hurriedly come down to check on their two fallen comrades in front of the disabled containment unit. Knife in hand, Five blinked behind them, kicking one behind the knees and striking his knife towards the other.

But he realized he was too weak, too tired, too slow, and his left hand was alarmingly caught mid-swing. Five immediately balled his right hand into a fist, striking the soldier’s throat, freeing his right hand from the grasp as the gas-masked soldier stumbled back clutching his neck. 

Five’s right shoulder protested in burning pain after the strike, and he clutched it with a loud cry, falling down to his knees.

A blue flash appeared in the corner of his eye, Lila jabbing a knife through a chest and another through the side of the neck.

***

Lila pulled one of her knives out of a body, sheathing the blade on her side behind her gun. She looked down towards Five on his knees holding his shoulder, seeing the familiar sight of pain and injury on him. She shook her head and sighed.

“Lila, I…” Five began.

“Stop,” Lila interrupted rigidly. “I’m not here to talk. And I don’t plan on going back with you. I saw the file regarding the branch commission base, and I just wanted to make sure you didn’t rush in here and get poisoned and get shot or whatever, which you actually did apparently.” Her eyes held a hardened coldness, and Five’s eyes lowered to the floor at the intensity of the stare.

“Do you have all of your siblings?” she asked, voice still unsympathetic.

“I have one left to take back,” Five said, motioning with his eyes towards his sister in the darkened corner. Five stood up slowly, but stumbled back down after taking a step. 

Lila kept an expression of indifference. She had made a promise to guard her heart. She would not be vulnerable again. Besides, she thought, his siblings would make certain he was okay once this was all over.

Five staggered back up and walked slowly towards his sister. “Do you have enough energy to teleport her back?” Lila asked matter-of-factly.

“Maybe, possibly,” he replied as he sat down and pulled his sister to his lap, wrapping one arm under her neck and the other around her chest.

Lila huffed in frustration, as she had only planned to come in and get out quickly. “Rest for a minute, then,” she said tersely. “I’ll wait to make sure you get out, then I’m gone.”

She walked towards one of the consoles, taking interest in the information on the screen, glancing once in a while at Five cradling his sister in the far end of the room. She spotted the words “Soundproof Containment Unit” and took her time to read the detailed specifications below it, wanting to keep herself occupied during the wait.

Lila noticed an identical console to the one she was examining a few feet away, and she approached it curiously. “Spatial Energy Dampener Containment Unit,” the screen read.

She remembered her other knife and thought she should retrieve that one as well. It was a pretty knife, that was all, she thought, not at all because it reminded her of Diego’s knives.

She approached the bodies on the floor, attempting to recall which one she had stabbed.

A pulsating energy field suddenly appeared around her. She held her hands against it, but the energy was as solid as a brick wall.

“Lila!” Five yelled, half standing, holding up his sister. There were two containment units, why hadn’t he noticed before, he thought angrily at himself.

Five and Lila’s eyes met, both filled with growing panic. Lila pulled on the power she had absorbed from Five, but the power sputtered apologetically, the space around her refusing to open.

A loud laughter boomed from the entryway. There, Merrick stood against the wall, holding in his right hand a small device, with a big red button similar to the containment unit’s control button up on the wall. “That one was actually for you, but it seems I caught a different little bird instead,” 

Merrick smirked towards Five, shaking the device in his hand before placing it in his coat pocket. “Well, Lila Pitts  _ is _ a secondary target, so all’s not lost. Funny though, I didn’t know you two had become friends.”

Lila looked towards Five, seeing his distressed expression as he held his sister tighter, his eyes darting between Lila and Merrick. He only had one jump left, and she was not a fool to think he would endanger his sister for her.

His choice was inevitable, and she couldn’t stand waiting on the few moments left for him to arrive at the decision.

“Go,” Lila commanded firmly, locking her determined eyes onto his hesitant ones. “Take your sister and go.” 

She could only blame herself for coming here, she thought. She should have just cut him out of her heart instead of giving in to worry. Why had it become so hard for her to do something so simple?

“I have to keep her safe,” Five said, expression full of guilt. “I’ll come back for you, I promise.” And she was so tired of his lies, so she refused to acknowledge it, and brought her eyes away to look at Merrick instead. 

She didn’t want to see Five go. She didn’t want to see her unimportance played out in front of her eyes.

She didn’t want the confirmation that she was merely secondary.

She saw the blue flash out of the corner of her eyes, and that was that.

***

Merrick unhurriedly pushed off from the wall and began walking towards Lila, just as Reya arrived at the entryway with a combat unit. “I got this,” he said, nonchalantly waving them off. Reya held up an arm and motioned terseley for the unit behind her to leave, but stayed herself to observe.

“Do you really think he’s going to come back for you?” Merrick asked with a self-assured smile, keenly studying Lila’s expression.

“I know he won’t,” Lila replied brusquely, narrowing her eyes fearlessly, determined not to fall for mind games.

“Oh?” he replied, innocently arching an eyebrow. “Well at least you know. That the only thing Five Hargreeves cares about is his family.” He placed his hands in his coat pocket and tilted his head slightly. “It’s common knowledge, apparently, printed clearly and in large, important font on his file.” He caught a flicker of weakness in her eyes, and knew that he was pushing the right buttons, so he went in for the kill.

“Poor little Lila,” he continued, tutting and shaking his head in faux empathy. “Maybe you should have just stayed loyal to the Commission. At least you would have someplace to belong to, instead of having to constantly dwell on being alone and unloved in this world.”

Lila crossed her arms, lips pursing in a thin line of controlled anger. “Now that you’ve captured me, what are we doing next? The staring each other down thing is kind of getting boring.”

Merrick laughed. “Oh, didn’t you know? There isn’t a capture order for you. The instruction was to kill on sight. Not even the Commission can think of any use for you, it seems.”

“What’s your game then? Why am I still here?”

A cruel grin settled on Merrick’s face.

***

Five appeared in a blue glow, staggering forward and falling on both hands. Lila’s eyes widened with panic.

“Five, no!”

Five turned to look behind just as the lead pipe swung and connected with the side of his head.

Pain exploded, darkness engulfing his vision. Five fell on his side on the cold ground, his weight on the wound on his shoulder. He reached up a shaking left hand to touch the side of his head, as he worried that his skull may have shattered. He felt the sticky liquid on his fingers, and a warm flow down the side of his face and neck.

There was a ringing in his ears, but he could still make out the dreadful sound of the lead pipe dragging menacingly on the cement floor, the hazy sound of Merrick’s amused chuckling, and distantly Lila’s voice screaming his name. 

The dragging pipe drew closer, his world still in darkness, and he began to push backwards with his legs, occasionally attempting to pull on his power. He whimpered at the burning on his shoulder and turned face down to relieve the strain, crawling desperately away.

The laughter had settled on top of him, and he heard the lead pipe swish through the air, striking his chest from below and flipping him over. He cried out miserably, and Five thought he had felt something crack, as bringing air in his lungs became a struggle.

_ Keep running, keep going! _

He heard the pipe rattle as it was thrown on the floor, and felt Merrick grab hold of the front of his blazer, shoving his body against the wall. He blinked several times to clear his vision again, and this time his eyes focused, the environment reappearing around him.

He saw Lila’s troubled expression in the containment unit, and he eyed the button on the wall behind that would disable the energy field. But distressingly, he realized they had moved too far away.

“I’m supposed to take you in alive, but accidents do happen,” Merrick said casually, then turned his voice towards the entryway. “Isn’t that right, Reya?” Leaning against the doorway with her arms crossed, Reya’s green eyes narrowed in displeasure, and with unconcealed irritation quickly turned away to leave.

Merrick grinned back towards Five. “She wants you dead, you know? But she prefers her kills quick and clean. Good little soldier Reya, known to never hesitate. If she had a gun to your head, there wouldn’t even be time for your life to flash before your eyes.” 

Merrick’s eyes narrowed, a small smile on his lips and a sadistic slither in his tone. “But where’s the fun in that, I say.” 

He released the hold on the blazer, walking towards the fallen soldiers on the ground. Five leaned heavily against the wall, barely keeping himself upright, still continually glancing at the unit control button behind Lila. Merrick pulled a small knife from one of the bodies, wiping the blade with his suit. 

Merrick stood a few feet in front of Five, casually examining the knife, when Five formed a desperate plan in his head. He placed a foot back against the wall, hands flat behind him, and readied himself to lunge towards Merrick. 

Five refused to lose, not with his family still poisoned, not with Lila still trapped, and definitely not to this psychopath, he thought resolutely.

“What do you plan on doing, little one?” Merrick asked in sneering amusement, chuckling at the look of determination on Five’s bloodied face, brandishing the knife in his hand.

The world kept trying to tilt, so Five focused on Lila’s frantic screams to keep himself grounded. She was pleading for him to stop, he realized, but this was the only way to save her. 

He was secondary.

So he steeled himself and kicked off from the wall, launching forward towards Merrick.

The knife was roughly shoved in his stomach, and Five’s body lurched back with the force. He held back a cry, gritting his teeth and holding his breath to keep control, as Merrick held his shoulder and ruthlessly twisted the knife.

Merrick’s lips curled up in sickening pleasure, watching with gratification as agony seized Five, finding delight at the small body convulsing in his hands. Ah, these were the moments he missed the most, he reminisced.

A blue flash, an angry grip on the trigger, and the last thing Merrick knew was the back of his head exploding. 

In that moment, Five’s hand was still in Merrick’s coat pocket, clutching the device that had set Lila free, as he gratefully let go of consciousness.


	9. The Day After

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had permission to spam the subscribers lol so here we go. ^_^
> 
> Actually, I had to rush this chapter because I have to take a break. :( Work is going crazy, but I'll be back after a few of weeks to write again, and I hope you’ll all still be around to read the next chapters! We’re so close to the end, and I am so excited to write the final 2 chapters when it’s time since I’ve been thinking about the ending since chapter 2!
> 
> Know that I will still be squealing at every kudos, every comment, every bookmark, and every sub, even though I might not be able to reply right away, I would still love to know what you think of the story! Oh, and I made sure to resolve the cliffhanger with the End Notes, because I feel like I’ll have a riot in my hands if I didn’t lol.
> 
> Truthfully, I'm unhappy with some parts of this chapter still, but I don't want to hold it until I get back so hopefully it's okay. :) Maybe I'll revise it in the future.

There were voices arguing, then a painful pounding in her head, then the unpleasant feeling of being sick.

Vanya opened her eyes, groaning as her hand went up to her head, an attempt to appease the angry headache, wondering how in the world it acquired a hammer. 

“She’s awake,” she heard Allison’s voice announce.

“Luther, that’s your cue,” Diego yelled, and Vanya looked around the room, still disoriented, seeing Luther heading towards her.

“What’s going on,” Vanya said weakly, and she felt her throat dry, then smelled the coppery scent of blood in the air.

She felt Luther lift her off the ground, and her stomach lurched. “Wait, wait,” Luther’s voice warned. There was an urgency to Luther’s walk, and she could feel her stomach protesting at the unintended jostling. “Almost there, just a second,” Luther continued to warn, and suddenly the sickness in her stomach wanted to come out that very moment.

Vanya retched, just as she was deposited on the cold tile floor in front of the toilet bowl. She could hear Allison’s comforting voice along with feeling her hand rubbing on her back.

“That’s it, you’ll feel better after this,” Allison said, as Vanya continued to empty the contents of her stomach.

Allison helped her up to the sink to clean up, noting that she did feel much better. Reaching to turn on the faucet, her eyes widened on her bloody hands. She looked up to the mirror, seeing smudges of blood on her cheek, on her neck, and more on her clothes.

“It’s all right, we checked while you were out,” Allison said. “It’s not your blood.” But the reassurance of being covered in a stranger’s blood did not have the desired calming effect. “We have blood on us too, but you seem to be the one with the most. I checked you myself, though, you have no injuries. None of us do either.”

She scrubbed her hands almost violently under the running water. Allison handed her a wet face towel for the blood on her face, and she nearly scrubbed her skin raw until Allison placed a gentle hand on hers. Wide-eyed and breathing heavily, Vanya brought down her trembling hands, her sister giving her a comforting hug to help calm her distress.

They walked back out to the living room, where Luther and Diego were currently sporting their unpleasant moods and apparently taking it out on each other, and sometimes at Klaus, who seemed to prefer nursing his head than to join in.

“It’s very, very obviously not safe here for us,” Luther argued towards Diego, body tense.

“We can figure this out, at least here we already know the threats,” yelled Diego. “And why should we even listen to you? Whose idea was it to go on this mission in the first place?”

“It was only environmental recon! We didn’t even go inside. It was supposed to be safe!” Luther yelled back. 

Allison nudged Vanya slightly to catch her attention. “We’re all pretty freaked out about what just happened,” Allison informed her. “You were the last to wake up, but Luther and I were the first and it was pretty scary with all the blood and the pounding headache and the extreme nausea.“ Allison crinkled her nose at the recollection.

“We want to go back to 1963,” Allison continued, giving Vanya a wink, and Vanya’s face lit up. “But Diego is against it. Because of his girlfriend.” Allison motioned towards the sofa where Eudora was sitting next to Klaus. “She just got here a few minutes before you woke up.”

“And Five said we can’t use the briefcase!” Diego continued.

“Yah, I’m not buying that,” Luther said, eyes narrowing. “And are we still letting Five make all the decisions? Because he hasn’t been here.” Luther huffed in irritation, taking a few steps to pace to keep his temper down.

“Admit it, you’re scared too!” Luther continued, gesturing his hand towards Diego. “We lost time, we feel like shit, and you know something was done to us. And what could possibly be the reason for all the blood!”

“Dammit!” Diego yelled in frustration, rubbing a hand over his head, pacing up and down a few times also. “Do you think we were kidnapped by aliens and experimented on?”

Klaus’ hands rubbed down on his face from his head to his mouth, eyes widening in fear.

That line of thinking did not sit well with Allison, so she decided it was the right moment to step in.

“Okay, look,” Allison said, stepping up towards the brothers, confidence in her demeanor, letting the room know who was actually in charge now. “Let’s back up a bit. We all agreed that Vanya’s plan to go back is good and achievable.” Vanya’s heart elated, and she followed Allison to the center of the room as well.

Allison looked pointedly at Diego. “And this isn’t about Five,” she said, taking a deep breath. “The plan is good. Not only will it clear our names, but that timeline is safer for us than here.”

“We would really rather keep the family together, Diego,” Allison continued. “But I understand if you want to stay here. And I understand if Five wants to stay here also.” 

Allison’s eyes showed a sadness, but then continued determined. “But we-” she motioned to Luther, Vanya, Klaus, and herself, “we have people there we want to see. We should not be expected to put our hopes and dreams aside. We have a right to chase our happiness. Just as you have that right to as well.” Allison glanced towards Eudora on the couch to communicate her meaning. “This timeline, this isn’t our home anymore, so we want the opportunity to choose where we want that home to be. Do you understand?”

Diego scratched the back of his head, releasing an exhale. “I’m not leaving her,” he said firmly.

“I know, I told you I understand,” Allison reassured. “You have a right to make that choice, just as we have a right to choose.” Allison smiled, and Diego softened his facial expression. “Besides, we could always still visit each other.”

***

The pull of awareness was unkind, and Five met consciousness with an anguished moan, hands desperately grabbing for something to anchor himself. One hand found the edge of the couch cushion, the other a part of his bloody shirt, and he gripped tightly, breathes caught in his throat, eyes shut, struggling to adjust to the agony.

"Five," Lila called out, voice wrapped in distress, unusual for her. Kneeling beside him, she reached to pry his grips, bringing his hands together to her chest, wrapping both hers around them hoping to deliver the needed comfort.

"Five," she called again, her voice sliding past the haze in his mind, so Five focused on that sound and the warmth of her grasp, steadying his breathing as he tried to manage the pain.

Lila waited in anxious patience, continually readjusting her grip to encourage his efforts, and in time Five was finally able to slowly open his eyes.

"Lila," he spoke, raspy, swallowing to soothe his throat. His sight lingered on her troubled expression, his hands caught in her bloody hold. “How long was I out?”

“Only about 45 minutes,” she informed him, worry coloring her expression.

"Help me sit up," Five said, already pulling himself so Lila would not have time to protest. Slightly startled, Lila released her hand to grasp his arm to assist, and allowed Five to use her other hand to pull up on.

The pain shot through him as he settled in a sitting position, and his body stiffened, moaning in anguish again.

"Five," she said, grasping his shoulders, studying Five worriedly. "Something's wrong, I have to get you to the hospital." Her eyes flickered throughout his body in a fluster. "I got the bullet out and closed your wounds to stop the bleeding, but I think there's a lot of internal damage, and..."

"My siblings first," he interrupted. "I have to check." Lila brought her hands to cup both sides of his face, smearing blood on his cheeks, holding his eyes to hers.

"Five, you could die," she said firmly. 

"I just need to see, Lila. If they're okay," he said, noticing his chest was tight, struggling to breath. "Then we go to the hospital right after, I promise." Lila shook her head stubbornly, tightening her lips together.

"Please," he begged.

Lila held his face for a moment longer and nodded reluctantly, touching her forehead to his bandaged one in a sign of resignation. "Okay, just to check, then we jump to the hospital." Five nodded, closing his eyes, easing into the physical comfort of her touch.

When Lila pulled away, Five took in her ragged appearance, his blood on her hands, some on her cheek. She smiled in a self-conscious manner, aware of how she must look, pushing stray hairs from her face and smearing more blood on her cheek.

"Let's clean up a bit first," Five suggested with a soft smile, and Lila grabbed a new face towel, soaking it with clean water.

When she returned, Five had taken the bandage off his head, and she shook her head in disapproval.

She cleaned blood off Five's face, then blood she could see around him, being gentle around his wounds and bruises, then cleaned her own self quickly and changed into jeans shorts and an off-shoulder cream colored long-sleeved shirt. Her cutest outfit, she thought.

She stood in front of her bedside table for a moment before going back, holding a piece of paper folded in quarters in her hand that she had taken from Five’s blazer.

He doesn’t know how to take care of himself, Lila thought worriedly as she placed the paper in the table drawer. He should not have this in his possession.

"How do I look?" Lila asked, hair still messy, helping Five back in his clothes, and he knew what was on her mind.

"Sorry, Lila, this wasn't how you were supposed to reunite with Diego," Five said, eyes looking off to the side, guilt stabbing his chest.

"It's okay," she said, straightening her hair. "Do I really look that bad?" she asked, trying for lightheartedness, but Five eyes still held regret.

"And I'm sorry, I know I used you," Five continued. "I couldn't do it on my own, and I didn't have anyone else."

Lila shook her head. "It's okay, Five..."

"I'm selfish, I know. You have every right to be angry with me. And I didn't know how to tell you about Diego," Five said. "I know it's not an excuse, but I'm just not good at that stuff, being human."

Lila cupped his face again. "Oi, don't say that." She held his gaze, because she wanted him to understand something important. But time was short, and there would be plenty of time the day after. "Come on," she said instead, holding out her hand.

She pulled him up as carefully as she could, but Five whimpered as he stood, body tensing in pain again. She reached around him quickly and wrapped his body in an embrace. And Five leaned in, resting his head on her shoulder, and surprising himself on how he craved for the comfort.

"Oh, I can just imagine how it's going to go when we blink in with you looking like this," she said, leaning her cheek on his head, waiting for his body to relax. "I hope none of them think I'm the one who beat you up. The prospect of having to deal with your angry, overprotective family is downright scary." Lila listened to Five's rattling breathes, rubbing a hand up and down his back.

"Oh, and it's going to be so awkward at the hospital with all your siblings there fussing over you. Maybe I'll need to disappear for a bit while you're in surgery. I'll go to a book shop. Hey, what types of books do you like?" They would have plenty of time on their hands the day after, Lila thought.

Five didn't reply, but she felt his body begin to relax.

"I'm sure they're fine," Lila reassured. They'll be like, 'hey, isn't that Diego's crazy ex-girlfriend' how bloody awkward is this going to be." Lila laughed at herself.

"Just be yourself, remind Diego." Five said, finally pulling away from Lila, regretfully. "Wild, confident, cheeky, spontaneous, crazy-lady," Five smiled weakly. "He's got weird taste, apparently."

Lila smiled back, running her fingers through his hair a few times, straightening out the mess.

"Ready?" Lila asked, and Five nodded. She hooked her arm around Five's and held his hand. He squeezed her hand tightly, and Lila noted the tenseness again in his body. He was still struggling to manage the pain.

He’ll be okay, she reassured herself. After this, everything’s going to be okay.

There were plenty more things that Lila wished she could prepare for, plenty more things to say to Five as well. But there would be plenty of time to sort everything out the day after.

***

A blue flash, and Five and Lila materialized towards the back of the living room. The entire room fell into immediate silence, with all occupants taking in the sight of the new arrivals.

"Lila?" Diego asked, attempting to grasp the sight in front of him. Arms hooked together, both looking disheveled, as if they had come from some joint adventure.

Lila’s eyes held the familiar wide fearlessness, her lips sporting her small, sassy smile. Diego’s eyes wandered to her one bare shoulder showing from her off-shoulder top. An unusual soft look that worked well to contrast her confident poise. Her hair had grown out a little longer, bangs parting slightly to the side.

Vanya reached up under Diego’s chin to close his mouth.

How long has she been around? Diego wondered. And what has she been up to, and why had she been running around with Five? 

"What is she doing here?" Allison asked with irritation in her tone, crossing her arms, as Luther stepped to the front, body straightening and hand held out protectively over the other siblings. 

Five released his hold on Lila's arm, walking towards the group. Lila had a moment of concern as she looked towards Five, but then smirked cheekily at Allison, raising her hands up in mock surrender.

"Hey, I'm just taxi service," Lila said as she walked towards the armchair and plopped herself down, raising her bare legs over an armrest to sit lazily sideways, staking her position as a mere observer.

Eudora elbowed Klaus subtly and caught his eyes. "Who's that?" she whispered curiously, because she had caught Diego's reaction to her arrival.

"That's Diego's crazy, murder-y ex-girlfriend," Klaus said, pulling off town-gossip easily. "Last time we saw her, she was trying to kill Five, well, and all of us. She has powers too, she can mirror all of our abilities."

"Oh," Eudora reacted simply.

"Everyone okay?" Five asked, walking carefully, hands clutched tensely on his sides.

"No, we're not okay, Five," Luther informed him. "We were all unconscious and woke up nauseous and throwing up and with a giant headache and covered in blood."

Five closed his eyes, the guilt taking hold. "Because none of you idiots could follow simple instructions!" Five said, growing angry. "I told all of you to stay out of this!"

Luther's face tensed in anger as well. "You're not the only one who wants to fix the timeline!"

Klaus had been wanting to insert himself in the conversation, so attempted to conjure as much scariness and infuriation as he could in order to match his siblings. "We have a great plan to go back to 1963, Fivey, I think you should hear us out," he said unhurriedly, motioning calmly with his hands, and so he was promptly ignored.

"It's not all about you, Five!" Luther continued. "This concerns us, too!"

"Five, listen," Vanya said, hands twisting together nervously, "we have a plan to time travel back to 1963. We're going to catch Oswald in the act of killing on camera, then after our old selves leave, we'll broadcast the video to clear our names. Then we can go back to our families and..."

"Your family is here, your life is here! What are you talking about?!" Five yelled angrily, hand going up to his forehead, and Vanya quickly shut her mouth in shock. 

He’s not going to listen, Vanya realized, the feeling of hopelessness creeping in uninvited. She was easily going to lose her chance at happiness just like that.

"We can't find any evidence of our existence, did you know that?” Luther yelled. "We don't have lives here! And Allison doesn't have a daughter, Five," Luther said, motioning towards Allison, who took a sharp inhale at the subject matter.

There was a silence as Five took in the information, looking towards Allison. His sister exhaled slowly before speaking up.

"We tracked down Patrick, but he doesn't have a daughter. Claire doesn't exist, Five. My daughter's gone," Allison said, voice breaking and unable to hold back tears. 

Her beautiful Claire, Allison recollected sadly, with her endless curiosity, her wide-eyed excitement of the world around her, her dreams of becoming a singer, her sweet around-the-neck hugs, her mischievous smiles, her insatiable demands to cuddle on the sofa - all was gone. 

Allison had dreamt of another outcome of the destruction of the world, where she had held her frightened daughter tight, reassuring her that her mother would never leave her side no matter what, even as the flames would engulf them. She felt somehow that she had failed in showing her love to her daughter for surviving without her.

"I'm sorry, I truly am Allison." Five closed his eyes, still holding a hand on his forehead. "But I've told you, we can't use the briefcases for travel. You can build your lives here."

"Hey, the briefcases are being tracked," Lila said, interjecting herself into the conversation , unable to hold back her annoyance of the situation any longer. "Get off his back, he's just trying to protect all of you!"

"You, stay out of this," Luther said pointing a firm finger. "This is a family matter."

"Oh yeah, is this what you call a family?" Lila stood up, fully committed to joining the argument.

"Yes, and as a family we are supposed to work together, to watch out for each other, act in each other's best interest!" Allison said, crying emotionally, then looking at Five, "Which you haven't been doing!"

"No one is going back to the 60's, and that's final!" Five yelled, then winced, a hand going to his mid-section, and Eudora took notice.

"Five, are you okay?" Eudora asked with sudden concern, finally snapping Diego to the moment. She caught Diego's eyes and motioned her head towards Five, a terrible uneasiness in her chest. But Diego seemed to be having trouble focusing on the situation. 

Five merely took a glance at Eudora, gave a dismissive look, then focused back to his siblings.

"Do you understand what you’re asking me to do?” Vanya asked, speaking up again. Sissy's voice replayed in her head, and she desperately needed Five to understand. “Do you not know, Five, that you can’t just tell someone to leave their loved ones behind, never to see them again?”

Vanya looked around the room at her siblings. “You can’t tell a wife to leave her husband or her daughter,” Vanya looked towards Allison, who looked back with a look of pain and tears in her eyes. 

“You can’t tell someone to leave the man that he loves, his soulmate, to a fate of death, when we have the power to save him?” Vanya said, looking to Klaus, who gave her a melancholy smile.

“You can’t tell someone who finally found the father he had been searching for to leave him, and without even making amends to a misunderstanding?” Vanya looked towards Luther, his eyes falling to the ground.

“Do you not have empathy? Do you not know what it’s like to be human?”

Vanya’s words struck something in Five, keeping him silent, and his face momentarily fell.

“I have family there, Five! Just let us use the briefcase! Even if it’s being tracked, you know there’s a way, you just don’t want to try!" Vanya yelled in desperate anger. “Why do you never listen to anyone else other than yourself! Why do you always get to decide!" 

She had been denied so long of having a happy life, of someone who truly loved her, Vanya thought, and she finally had someone who made her whole. And she wanted to fight for herself, for her future, for her hopes and dreams. Because she deserved it just as much as everybody else, didn’t she? She deserved to be happy too.

"I am not the weak and docile little girl that everyone can just walk all over on anymore! Who are you to tell me who I can or cannot have as family! Who are you to decide my future!" 

It wasn't fair, the world had been unfair to her for so long, Vanya thought. And her emotions welled up, a whirlwind of frustration and heartache and growing despair taking hold of her body.

"Five!" Lila called out in growing concern, taking a step towards him, feeling the hostile energy emerging.

"You don't have the right to rip me away from the ones I love!" And Vanya lost control.

An enraged blast of energy tore from Vanya's body suddenly, sending everyone and everything crashing to the wall, except for Lila, who had erected a glowing shield around herself on instinct. 

Glass from the television had shattered before it even reached the wall, the sofa and armchair tumbling back, all furniture broken, the walls themselves smashed in some places, and the bodies of her siblings lined the floors along the walls.

The release cleared Vanya's head, and she brought her hands to her mouth as she yelled in terrified shock.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" she cried, frantically surveying the room to check on her siblings. "Is everyone okay?! I'm sorry!" 

Not again, she thought, frightened, as images replayed from her horrid memories. Allison’s bloody throat. The murder of their dear Pogo at her hands. The destruction of the Academy. Her brothers in turmoil as she slowly sucked their life energy.  _ Not again _ , she pleaded,  _ please _ .

Diego moaned on the ground, a dull ache throughout his body from the blast impact as well as from slamming against the wall. Gingerly getting on his feet, he immediately searched for Eudora, and found her on the ground wrapped protectively in Klaus' arms. He could hear Vanya sobbing in the middle of the room, but Eudora was priority at the moment.

"Hey, that's my girl!" he said as he worriedly pried Eudora out from Klaus. She looked slightly dazed.

"I'm okay," she reassured, placing a hand on her forehead to help clear her mind.

"You're welcome," Klaus said petulantly at Diego, hand going to his shoulder and a small trickle of blood from his head. Diego looked to his left to find Luther with his body around Allison, both starting to sit up as well. Luther looked unharmed, but Allison appeared to be disoriented.

"Are you okay?" Luther asked Allison worriedly, tenderly brushing her hair out of her face. Allison sat up wincing, but then brought her eyes to Vanya crying in the middle of the room on her knees.

"Vanya first, Luther. Calm her down, see if she's okay," Allison instructed, pulling herself up, trying to take charge.

Luther nodded and approached Vanya, gently pulling her up from her knees and wrapping his body around her in an embrace. 

“You’re okay,” Luther said, and he remembered the betrayal that fateful day. “Everything’s alright.” He had already been forgiven, but the forgiveness couldn’t erase that moment. He brushed his hand as gently as he could on the back of her head, his way of telling her that this time was different. That this time, he held her with love and nothing else.

And Vanya leaned in, crying in relief, trusting the hold completely. And she felt her siblings approach also, wrapping her in a family hug. And knowing that they weren't angry, that she was loved, blossomed a feeling of so much warmth that she cried all the harder.

Eudora watched the family off to the side, smiling as a warm feeling settled in her chest at the sight. She caught something at the corner of her eye, and shifted her gaze towards the far corner of the room. 

Lila and Five sitting on their knees in an embrace as well, but noticed Lila was supporting Five's weight, with Five's head resting on her shoulder faced towards the wall away from Eudora. 

She approached them, noting Lila's anxious state even from a distance, and as she came closer, Lila's shirt soaked in red prominently settled in her sight. 

Five's arms hung limp on the side, blood dripping from his fingertips to the carpeted floor.

***

The blast released, and Lila immediately mirrored the energy on instinct to create a shield around herself. 

After the chaos cleared, she desperately spun around searching for Five, and found that he had been thrown to the back of the room, on his back on the floor. She ran quickly, falling to her knees beside him, and she felt immediately the warm liquid on the carpet on her bare knees.

"Five?" she asked softly, a deep anxiety in her chest. Five's eyes stared at something distant, his body trembling. "Five?" she called again, one hand grasping his hand, the other cupping his cheek, hoping for an answer.

"Lila," he said, sounding frightened, and Lila wanted to comfort him immediately, so she wrapped a hand behind his neck and her other arm behind his back, then pulled his body up to sit, but he didn't have the energy to hold himself, so she leaned his body to rest on hers. He continued to tremble, and she remembered how he had relaxed earlier at her apartment when she had held him.

"I've got you," she said, trying to comfort, bringing his head on her shoulder as before and holding him against her. “You’re okay,” she lied.

“It hurts,” Five said quietly, and her heart broke. She felt his blood soak into her clothes, spreading throughout her body like a warm, wet embrace.

She cried on his shoulder. “I’m sorry I left,” she whispered. She didn't have to look, she knew his wounds had reopened. 

***

"Diego!" Eudora called out with concern, and the family caught the urgency in her voice and turned to look. She motioned fretfully towards the two figures sitting on their knees on the floor.

As the group approached, Lila's tight hold and Five's limp body immediately conveyed a deeply concerning image.

"Five!" Luther called out in worry. 

Lila's eyes snapped to the source of the voice, anger suddenly coloring her expression, an ominous glow lighting her eyes. The group stopped cautiously, Diego pulling Eudora protectively behind him.

"Get away from him," Lila growled in a low tone, Vanya's power whispering encouragements to a disquieting rage building in her chest. 

Keeping their distance, the siblings walked guardedly around to face Lila, Diego still motioning to keep Eudora at arms length further away. And as they came to a clear view, the striking blood-red color soaking the entire front of Lila's once cream-colored top that Five leaned against sent immediate distress through everyone in the room.

"Oh my God!" Allison yelled, hands going to her mouth, holding a sharp inhale in her lungs. 

The dark uniform had hidden the blood from immediate view, but the crimson liquid dripping from Five's hands to the floor was an unmistakable tell on who it belonged to, as well as the steady flow of the red liquid visible on his bare knees. His face was turned away, resting on Lila's other shoulder, and not knowing if he was conscious or not only increased their concern.

"Lila," Diego said, conjuring a soothing voice as he took a step closer, and Klaus took hold of Eudora's arm and pulled her back from Diego protectively. "Lila please, let us see Five."

An anger lit in Lila’s chest, which Vanya’s power immediately took in its grasp, cradling it, deforming it, wrapping it in intensity.

A soft wave bristled around Lila and Five, then quickly agitated into a swirl of enraged energy, and Diego had only a second to take a step back as a blast released, throwing everyone roughly off their feet and onto their backs. 

"What more do you want from him?!" Lila yelled, as the siblings hurried back on their feet, checking on each other with a quick exchange of looks before settling their attention back on Lila.

It had been merely a warning shot, Diego thought in relief.

But Lila continued to stare in growing rage, a monster lurking behind her fierce eyes, emotions inching closer to overpowering her thoughts. "Isn't it enough that you're all wearing his blood all over your clothes?" 

An accusatory tone, invoking horrified realizations.

"No," Vanya said softly, shaking her head, clutching her clothes. "No, it couldn’t be."

The other siblings similarly glanced down on their clothes, then looked towards their bloodied brother, slowly grasping the alarming meaning of Lila's words.

Five was the one who had saved them. And his blood was the payment for their lives.

Lila's eyes went down to Five's blazer pocket, pulling out the stack of pictures, throwing and scattering their own photos on the ground for them to see.

"They got him," Lila informed, voice breaking, then snapped her eyes back up with a furious stare. "They got him by laying out a trap using all of you!" She tightened her hold on Five, trying to keep the warmth from escaping his body, barely containing the storm building within her.

"Oh my God," Klaus said, echoing Allison's words earlier, both hands raising to clutch his head.

Vanya gripped her bloodied clothes tightly, wrapping her arms around herself. And she could imagine how Five held her protectively, from how his blood stained her clothes. Remembering her bloodied hands, how he must have held them tenderly. The blotches on her face, and on the pulse on her neck, invisible bloody hands that ghosted lovingly on her skin.

Her precious brother whom she had lost so many years ago, her best friend.

Vanya began to weep for long forgotten memories, as a deep sense of sadness and loss came upon her.

"Dammit, Lila," Luther said in growing trepidation. "Give him here!" but the sudden threatening glow of Lila's eyes cautioned him back, pulsing a white light of accusations.

"Do you know how many times I've literally saved his life just the past few days?" Lila seethed, voice still entirely too threatening.

"Please Lila," Diego pleaded, panic starting to take hold.

"Please, give us back our brother," Vanya pleaded as well, nearing hysterics, afraid that her own power would threaten to emerge again.

"If you're really his family," Lila began, voice trembling, struggling with everything to keep the bitter power at bay, “then why is it always me who has to look out for him?” Her eyes stared up, a sincere troubled look, pleading for an answer.

The question confounded the siblings, and they struggled to find a response that they thought would appease Lila.

"Do you know how much of his blood is on my sofa?" Lila continued, burying her chin on Five's shoulder, cradling the languid weight of his body in her protective embrace. "How many times I've washed blood from his clothes, changed his bandages?”

A silence came upon the room, the words gripping for attention. 

“Blood,” Allison whispered softly, eyes widening, watching the slow drip from Five’s fingertips. How many days has her brother been bleeding, she wondered in sudden fear.

“Do you know what it’s like to take a bullet out of him? Do you know how many times I've had to sew him up?”

Audible gasps, the sound of Vanya’s quiet sobs, chests tightening as comprehension slowly dawned.

“No, that’s …” Diego’s voice trailed, unable to speak his thoughts. 

That’s impossible, his thoughts finished. The hospital had fixed up Five, and he would have noticed since then. He turned his eyes towards Eudora, who stared back with a troubled look.

“I should have said something, been more firm,” Eudora explained guiltily, shaking her head slightly, “but I didn’t think it was my place.”

A terrible realization that Eudora had been warning them about Five. At the hospital, and every time after that. Because she had noticed when none of them did. 

Diego swallowed loudly, a hand clutching an ache in his chest as he stared at the small, limp body. He looked back at Lila, with an understanding of the anger she held towards them.

“Do you know how much pain medication he goes through just to function throughout the day?" Lila continued bitterly.

The energy swirled around the siblings threateningly once more, but bewilderment kept them still, attention focused only on Lila’s words.

"And you  _ dare _ call yourselves his family?"

The words pierced through their trance, and Vanya released an anguished cry that shook the walls dangerously. She had hurt the brother she had cherished, she thought heartbroken, her guilt choking the air in her lungs.

Allison placed a hand on her own forehead, shaking her head in disbelief. She had been determined to take care of the family since coming to this timeline. But the moments Five had stood in front of her, his well-being never came to her attention, didn’t realize they had slowly been losing him.

“Oh God, Five’s going to die, isn’t he?” Klaus said, hands on his head, starting to frantically pace back and forth.

Luther closed his eyes, forcefully pushing the mounting anxiety down. He had been too scared to be Number One for a while, afraid of repeating the mistakes he had made. Five’s suffering went unnoticed because Number One had turned a blind eye to his responsibilities, to his job of protecting the family.

Five needed him, Five needed all of them, Luther thought determined, staring with newfound clarity at his damaged brother. He looked around the room at all his family. This was not the time for everyone to fall apart. They’ve let Five down enough.

“Klaus,” Luther said, placing both hands on Klaus’ shoulders to keep him still.

“Not another one, not this one,” Klaus muttered mindlessly. “Not anyone. Not again.”

“Listen to me,” Luther said firmly, catching his brother’s eyes. “I need you to keep Vanya calm, do you understand?” Klaus blinked a few times at his brother, then turned his head towards his small sister. 

Vanya was on her knees, clutching the sides of her head, struggling to keep control as the walls continued to rattle with the sound of every sharp intake of her breath.

Klaus turned back towards Luther, nodding in understanding, then proceeded towards Vanya.

Luther then turned towards Diego, Eudora rubbing a hand on his brother’s back with attempts to calm.

“Diego,” Luther said, shaking Diego’s shoulder. “You need to get it together. We need you, Five needs you. You’re the only one who can get through to Lila.” Diego looked up, eyes clearing in understanding and breaths calming. He took a moment to take a breath, then nodded and turned to face Lila.

Lila felt the outrage in her body, amplified by Vanya’s energy. It clawed up from her stomach, ripping through her heart, shouting in her head. So she reached for it and brought it down, trying to keep it imprisoned for as long as she could, as her anger pulsated dangerously with Vanya’s distraught ones throughout the room, two screeching violins unable to find harmony.

"Lila, look at me," Diego said firmly, holding Lila's gaze, trying to keep his own panic under control. "We need to see if he's all right." He approached closer, determined, the situation already beyond alarming. 

Lila's eyes softened, blinking away the outrage, but still the power glowed in her chest, the monster that she shoved inside a bottle threatening to escape its confinement. It whispered thoughts of violence and destruction, promising the disappearance of pain once everything was destroyed. Urging her to ravage all that had hurt the one in her arms, whose life continued to seep away warmly into her chest.

"We'll take care of him. Please," Diego continued. And as Lila heard his sincere words, remembered it wasn’t just them who had hurt Five. That her clothes were just as soaked with his protective blood as his family’s.

“I left him alone,” Lila said, looking away to rest her cheek on Five’s head, eyes watering with tears. “It was my fault.”

“No, no, it’s all our faults,” Diego said, slowly inching closer. “But from now on we’ll watch over him, alright? We’ll take care of him now.” Lila’s eyes glanced back towards Diego, listening carefully, which gave Diego encouraging relief.

“Lila, we need to save him,” he continued. “So you need to let us have him.”

Luther moved closer behind Diego, sensing that his brother was about to make his move.

The white glow faded from Lila’s body, and Diego spotted his opening. Crouching down to their level, keeping his center of gravity low for a firm balance, he reached around Five's body and quickly pulled him away. 

Luther grabbed Five from Diego once their small brother was free, and Diego quickly wrapped his arms around Lila, securing her head to his chest in an effort to keep her calm.

"It's going to be okay," Diego whispered, and Lila relaxed into his familiar embrace, remembering the comfort of his strong arms, the warmth of his body. 

And Vanya’s dangerous energy completely dissipated from Lila’s body, freeing her mind and her emotions from its fearsome influence.

And she cried for this love that she lost, and for the brother whose life she couldn't hold on to, for the family she will never have. "You're okay," he said to her gently, and she cried harder, burying her face in his chest. "He's going to be okay." And Diego was unsure which of them he was reassuring.

***

Luther cradled Five in his arms, noting with relief that his brother was conscious, but his eyes were half-lidded and his body listless. He quickly made his way towards the bedroom.

Allison, trailing right behind, positioned a pillow on the bed where Luther could bring Five down. 

Blood quickly stained the white sheets and pillowcase red as Five was laid down. Eudora took in a sharp breath at the sight of the stained pillow, remembering Dr. Richard’s earlier warning regarding Five’s head injury.

“Take his clothes off,” Eudora instructed, taking charge as she noted the distress of the siblings. “Vanya,” she said towards her, who looked up with eyes red from crying and body still trembling, “grab some towels from the bathroom.”

Luther tapped Five’s cheek softly. “Five,” he called out. “Hey buddy, you’re going to be okay. Can you say something?” But Five remained unresponsive, eyes still glazed, face ghostly pale. Worry filled Luther, the sight of Five listless and bloody invoking a deep fear within him.

Allison and Klaus quickly began to pull off Five’s blazer, vest, and tie, with Luther carefully lifting Five’s body in intervals to accommodate the process.

Allison clutched Five’s clothes once they were off. “They’re soaked,” she said out loud half-dazed, not realizing she was trembling. So much blood on the bed, she thought absently.

_ Do you know how much of his blood is on my sofa? _

Eudora opened Five’s bloodied white shirt once it was unbuttoned. Five’s torso was covered in bandages, red liquid seeping out from them on his right shoulder and all along his stomach.

Allison eyes were caught in a hypnotized stare as the crimson claimed more of the bedsheet, unaware that Five’s clothes that she held were adding more stain to her own.

_ How many times I’ve washed blood from his clothes, changed his bandages? _

Allison reached for Five’s hand, slick with blood to her touch, then looked to his dull, green eyes. “Five?” she called for him quietly. 

_ Do you know what it’s like to take a bullet out of him? Do you know how many times I’ve had to sew him up? _

Five’s eyes had a flicker of recognition, focusing slightly. “Allison,” he said weakly. Allison let his clothes drop on the bed, bringing her other hand quickly over to Five’s hand as well. “Is everyone… okay?” he asked softly. 

Allison’s mouth opened slightly as she stared in disbelief. It was the same question he had asked earlier when he first arrived, she recalled. 

_ And you  _ dare _ call yourselves his family? _

Something was very wrong with her brother, Allison started to realize. How long has it been since something had been wrong with Five?

“I’m sorry,” Vanya said softly, the guilt pushing her down to her knees again as she cried, Klaus rubbing a hand on her back. “I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry.”

The room began to shake, all occupants suddenly looking around in concern before settling their eyes on Vanya.

Diego stood up from where he and Lila had been sitting in the living room, pulling Lila up with him and quickly leading them towards the bedroom to see what was happening.

Luther quickly approached Vanya and wrapped his arms around her again, trying to ease her misery, trying to calm her power.

Eudora stiffened at the sheer amount of blood that had stained nearly the entire bed. “We need to get him to the hospital right now,” she said, realizing time was running short. “Get him to my car.” The hospital was only a few minutes away, she thought. They just needed to keep him alive for a few minutes.

“I got him,” Diego said, noticing Luther preoccupied, scooping under Five’s neck and knees, securing his small brother firmly in his arms.

“I’ll stay here with Vanya,” Luther said, realizing his size would crowd the car. “We’ll catch up.”

***

“Shotgun!” Klaus yelled out inappropriately as Eudora unlocked her car. 

“I can get us there in 4 minutes,” Eudora declared as she came around on the other side to enter the driver’s seat.

Allison swung open the back passenger door, settling herself on the seat closest to the entrance, reaching her hands out to receive Five. Diego brought Five to lay down across the seat, bringing his head to rest on Allison’s lap, then reached up to turn on the cabin lights before kneeling on the floor on the opposite side of the car.

Lila had tailed Diego, but suddenly stopped directly in front of the car door.

There was no room for her, Lila realized hopelessly as she stared at Five inside the car. She never had a place among them.

Lila felt a soft shove behind her back.

“You’re a tiny thing,” she heard Klaus’ voice say. “You can fit on the floor in front of Allison.” Klaus leaned in around her to deliver the towels to Allison and Diego. “Well, hurry!” Klaus said to Lila, pushing her towards the inside of the car before entering the front passenger seat himself.

So Lila settled down on the floor, hugging her knees in front of Allison’s feet, staring into Five’s half-lidded eyes inches away.

Eudora began driving, and Diego made quick work to open Five’s shirt, and handed a small towel to Allison. “You’ve got the shoulder, I’ve got his stomach,” Diego instructed as he pressed down his hands on both sides of Five’s mid-section, Allison doing the same on his bleeding shoulder, the towels immediately soaking red.

Five groaned in pain, and Diego felt relief at the reaction.

“Keep him awake,” Eudora instructed from the front.

“You’re okay, Five, we’re getting you to the hospital. You’re going to be okay,” Diego reassured, taking in the unsettling sight of his brother’s battered, bloody, and bandaged small body beneath his hands.

“Vanya?” Five called out weakly. 

“She’s not here right now, but she’s going to meet us there at the hospital,” Allison said with a comforting tone.

“Please tell her I’m sorry,” Five said, tired eyes filling with melancholy regret. Allison sighed, the look on her brother’s face invoking a sadness within her.

“You’re going to tell her that yourself, Five, okay? Just wait a little bit,” Allison said gently.

Five didn’t respond any further, his eyes drooping once again. A disquieting contrast to when they were in the ambulance, Diego thought. Panic began to rise, and Diego became desperate to engage Five in the moment.

"Hey, what do you want to do, Five? After all this Commission and shit is all over?" Diego asked, hoping that he was projecting calm, then locking eyes with Allison, both holding worry in their eyes. Five’s eyes opened and focused, and both Diego and Allison sighed in relief, encouraging their efforts.

_ Fight, Five.  _ Allison pleaded in her head.

"Did you maybe want to go to school, get a doctorate?” Allison supplied helpfully. “Become a world renowned theoretical physicist?" Not difficult for her genius brother, she thought proudly. She couldn’t wait to see that smug look on his face once he disproves the theories of all the supposed leading scientists. 

Keeping one hand on his wound, she brushed Five’s bangs off of his dull, tired eyes with her other hand, lingering her fingers on his cheek, brushing it lightly with her thumb. His unresponsive expression was disheartening.

Allison looked at Klaus for help, whose head was turned all the way to observe the situation from the front seat. Klaus nodded his head in understanding.

_ Fight for your hopes and dreams. _

"Or, I bet you've been fantasizing about maybe locking yourself in your room and reading all day. I don't know." Klaus said, shrugging helplessly at Diego and Allison. 

Klaus was never very good at thinking under pressure, and his eyes panicked at this current realization. "Or family movie nights?" Klaus unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed to the back to join the rest, shoulder touching Lila’s, crowding Diego’s area on the floor. He wanted to stay close to Five.

_ Fight for yourself. _

"Or maybe you've thought of going on a vacation. The entire family, at the beach maybe." Allison said, thinking how nice that actually sounded for all of them. She could pack Five peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and coffee in a thermos. He looks like he could use the sun, she thought as she studied his pale skin.

_ Fight for your life, _

"Fall in love with an incredibly patient girl. Get married, have a family." Diego supplied, wondering if this was the longest 4 minutes ever. He glanced outside the window to see if they were close to their destination.

_ Fight for your happiness. _

Five's eyes drooped again, and Diego readjusted the pressure on his wound a little too forcefully as a knee-jerk reaction. Five let out a cry, arching his back slightly, a hand going to Diego’s hands.

"Diego, please." He whimpered helplessly.

Diego felt guilty, but keeping Five from losing consciousness was top priority. Just a little while longer, they were almost there, he reassured himself. "Hey, hey now. Come on Five, tell us, what have you been wishing for?” Diego encouraged again. “What do you want when all of this is all over?"

_ Please, Five. Remember,  _ Allison thought.

Five opened his mouth, struggling to get his words out, wheezing painfully with the effort. "I never really thought about... the day after."

Silence fell upon everyone, the siblings unable to process the meaning of the words.

_ What? _ they thought collectively.

"What?" Allison asked out loud.

Eudora gripped the steering wheel in frustration, because she had already known.

Lila began to cry, because she had already known.

And it suddenly dawned on Allison, horrifically, what had been wrong about Five since he came back to them at the Academy.

Five's eyes flitted closed.

"Five!" Diego shook on his wound, trying what he could to keep him awake, but Five’s head simply lolled to the side. “Five!”

Lila had been staring, so her eyes had shot open when she had realized. "He’s not breathing," she said softly. She reached for his hand, still slick with blood. “Five, please stay,” she whispered through soft sobs, voice breaking. “I don’t have anyone else.”

But Five’s eyes remained shut, his lifeless countenance bringing a devastating heartache. She had lost her only family, Lila thought as she tenderly cradled his hand in hers. She was alone in the world again.

. Allison quickly searched for a pulse on his neck, finding none. She anxiously readjusted her fingers, and still found nothing. “Oh God, no,” she began to sob, gasping in panic breaths, while Klaus and Diego continued to call out Five’s name in full panic.

The car stopped abruptly. 

"We're here!" Eudora announced. The door flew open, and Diego slid his arms under Five's knees and neck and bolted out the car, with Allison, Klaus, Lila, and Eudora stumbling right behind.

***

For those who happened to have been in the Emergency Room that evening, it must have been a sight to see, as a group ran hysterically through the doors, some crying uncontrollably, all yelling desperately for help at the top of their lungs.

The man in front of the group had fallen to his knees in despair, cradling the small, bloody body of his dead brother in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s okay, they made it. He survives. ^_^


End file.
